Photo: Fletcher6 · CC BY-SA 3.0Middleton’s library lends 7.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Flint Public Library serves Middleton’s 9,837 residents. Last year it lent 77K print books and media and logged 48K visits.
Middleton’s library, in brief
The library is a National Register landmark
Flint Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2002. Today’s library there has 18,200 square feet. The building ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 52% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 86% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 24 items per child in Middleton last year. Kids & programs ↓
Middleton invests in its library
Flint Public Library spends $86 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. All of it comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
This summary is written from the numbers on this page. Numbers are the library’s own report to the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
What’s behind Middleton’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Middleton is ahead of 52% of U.S. towns, #153 of 283 in Massachusetts. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Civic life counts registered nonprofits, library visits and online volunteering groups, so it can miss civic life that runs through congregations, mutual aid or neighbors looking out for each other.
Library visits: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024. Nonprofits: IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File, October 2026. Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. How TownRatings grades civic life →
41 community nonprofits are registered in Middleton
4.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.0%
6.0% of Middleton’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.9% in the typical Massachusetts town and 7.5% nationally.
Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. ZIP-code figures, weighted by where Middleton’s residents live; 2022.
About 5 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Middleton last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Flint Public Library serves 9,837 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 33 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
77K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 70K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.1 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
A National Register landmark since 2002
Flint Public Library, 1 South Main St., Middleton.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Middleton? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Flint Public Library
Flint Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jun 14, 2002. It is significant for its architecture and town planning at the local level. Its architecture is described as Romanesque.
The Charles Flint Public Library is the public library of Middleton, Massachusetts, United States. It is located in a Richardsonian Romanesque building at 1 South Main Street in the center of the town. The building, the only Romanesque building in Middleton, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.43 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Middleton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $846K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $846K budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
Retail prices are typical, rounded down: a new book $17, a kids’ book $12, an e-book or e-audiobook $15, a movie rental $4, a class or program $10, a computer or Wi-Fi session $3. The average cardholder’s month = the library’s yearly loans, attendance and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ its 4,085 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Middleton ranks 2nd of 8 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Topsfield | Topsfield Town Library fine-free | 14.1 | 41 | A+ |
| Middleton | Flint Public Library fine-free | 7.9 | 46 | B− |
| Lynnfield | Lynnfield Public Library fine-free | 7.4 | 59 | B+ |
| Danvers | Peabody Institute Library fine-free | 7.4 | 63 | B |
| North Reading | Flint Memorial Library fine-free | 6.7 | 47 | B− |
| Boxford | Boxford Town Library fine-free | 6.4 | 45 | B |
| North Andover | Stevens Memorial Library fine-free | 5.5 | 57 | C− |
| Peabody | Peabody Institute Library fine-free | 3.0 | — | C |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Digital loans not reported. Massachusetts libraries often don’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average; libraries are compared with others serving about as many people. How TownRatings uses library figures →
Questions about the library and civic life in Middleton
Does Middleton have a public library?
Yes. Flint Public Library, 1 South Main St., serves Middleton’s 9,837 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Flint Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Middleton’s library?
It logged 4.9 visits and lent 7.9 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Middleton’s civic life grade?
B− Middleton is ahead of 52% of U.S. towns on civic life, #153 of 283 in Massachusetts. The grade combines library visits per resident, community nonprofits per 1,000 residents and the share of adults 25–44 in volunteering groups. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Middleton.
Libraries: Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024. Each library reports its own numbers. Distances are straight-line from the town center. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.