Madison’s library is a branch of Little Dixie Regional Libraries, which lends less per resident than 55% of systems its size
Madison’s library is the Atterbury Memorial Library, a branch of Little Dixie Regional Libraries, which serves 31,406 people and lent 140K items last year.
What stands out about Atterbury Memorial Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Madison’s civic life grade
Madison isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Every hour the doors are open, about 17 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Little Dixie Regional Libraries system. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Little Dixie Regional Libraries serves 31,406 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
140K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
34,500 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 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
Atterbury Memorial Library, 113 E Broadway St., Madison.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Little Dixie Regional Libraries branch.
New in Madison? 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 $1.50 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Madison cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.6M 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 15,575 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Atterbury Memorial Library is one branch of Little Dixie Regional Libraries, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 31,406 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: Atterbury Memorial Library, 113 E Broadway St., is a branch of Little Dixie Regional Libraries, which serves 31,406 people. The branch is open about 33 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Little Dixie Regional Libraries 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 Madison’s library?
It logged 6.0 visits and lent 4.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Madison’s civic life grade?
Madison isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. 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. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.