Pine Hall · Photo: JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ MD · CC BY-SA 3.0Madison’s library is a branch of Rockingham County Public Library, which lends less per resident than 72% of systems its size
Madison’s library is the Madison-Mayodan Public Library, a branch of Rockingham County Public Library, which serves 92,416 people and lent 202K items last year.
What stands out about Madison-Mayodan Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Madison’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Madison is ahead of 11% of U.S. towns. Madison is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Madison’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($39K–$66K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
6 community nonprofits are registered in Madison
2.6 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.2%
5.2% of Madison’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.2% in the typical North Carolina 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Rockingham County Public Library serves 92,416 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 17 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Rockingham County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
202K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
12,989 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 16 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
Madison-Mayodan Public Library, 611 Burton St., Madison.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Rockingham County Public Library 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 $2.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.4M 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 36,675 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Madison | Madison-Mayodan Public Library | — | 53 | D |
| Mayodan | None of its own | — | — | 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.
- System-wide. Madison-Mayodan Public Library is one branch of Rockingham County Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 92,416 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-Mayodan Public Library, 611 Burton St., is a branch of Rockingham County Public Library, which serves 92,416 people. The branch is open about 53 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Rockingham County 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 Madison’s library?
It logged 2.9 visits and lent 2.2 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?
D Madison is ahead of 11% 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. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.