Photo: Myotus · CC BY 4.0Madison’s library is a branch of Pioneerland Library System, which lends less per resident than 56% of systems its size
Madison’s library is the Madison Public Library, a branch of Pioneerland Library System, which serves 161,633 people and lent 561K items last year.
What Madison’s library is like
The branch is a National Register landmark
Madison Carnegie Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1985. Today’s library there has 6,300 square feet. The building ↓
Twice the programs of a typical library its size
The Pioneerland Library System ran 3,727 programs last year, about 72 a week. That’s 23 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9. Kids & programs ↓
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; Madison’s library is a branch of Pioneerland Library System, so they cover the whole system (161,633 people), not just the Madison branch.
What’s behind Madison’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Madison is ahead of 60% of U.S. towns. Madison is graded on two of the three inputs. Madison’s count of community nonprofits holds 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 →
25 community nonprofits are registered in Madison
16.1 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 (10 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
4.9%
4.9% of Madison’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.4% in the typical Minnesota 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 Madison’s residents live; 2022.
About 42 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Pioneerland Library System serves 161,633 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Pioneerland Library System system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
561K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
89,222 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
A National Register landmark since 1985
Madison Public Library, 401 6th Avenue, Madison.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Pioneerland Library System branch.
New in Madison? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Madison Carnegie Library
Madison Carnegie Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Aug 23, 1985. It is significant for its education and architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Classical Revival.
The Madison Carnegie Library or Madison Public Library, located at 401 Sixth Avenue, Madison, in the U.S. state of Minnesota is a public library building built in 1905 of brick with limestone trim. Its characteristic features include a columned and pedimented main entrance and a small polygonal dome on its flat roof. The structure was built with an $8,000 grant from Andrew Carnegie.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.60 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Madison cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $5.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $8.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $5.6M 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 46,551 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Madison Public Library is one branch of Pioneerland Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 161,633 people it serves.
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 Madison
Does Madison have a public library?
Yes: Madison Public Library, 401 6th Avenue, is a branch of Pioneerland Library System, which serves 161,633 people. The branch is open about 38 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Pioneerland Library System 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 Madison’s library?
It logged 2.4 visits and lent 3.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Madison’s civic life grade?
B Madison is ahead of 60% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Madison.
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.