Friend-Hack House · Photo: Dwight Burdette · CC BY 3.0Milan’s library logs 1.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Milan Public Library serves 19,333 people in and around Milan. Last year it lent 52K print books and media and logged 27K visits.
The short version on Milan’s library
Programs are almost all for children
82% of the 264 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.3 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 61% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 54% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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; Milan Public Library serves 19,333 people in and around Milan, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Milan’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Milan is ahead of 65% of U.S. towns, #308 of 697 in Michigan. Milan is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Milan’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
18 community nonprofits are registered in Milan
3.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
11.1%
11.1% of Milan’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 12.4% in the typical Michigan 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 Milan’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Milan Public Library serves 19,333 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 23 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Milan Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
52K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Find it
Milan Public Library, 151 Wabash Street, Milan.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Milan Public Library branch.
New in Milan? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.76 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Milan cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $469K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $824K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $469K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 6,026 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milan | Milan Public Library | — | 43 | B+ |
| Milan Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
| York Township | None of its own | — | — | A− |
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. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. Milan Public Library serves 19,333 people in and around Milan, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Milan.
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 Milan
Does Milan have a public library?
Yes. Milan Public Library, 151 Wabash Street, serves 19,333 people in and around Milan (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Milan Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Milan’s library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 2.7 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Milan’s civic life grade?
B+ Milan is ahead of 65% of U.S. towns on civic life, #308 of 697 in Michigan. 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 Milan.
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. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.