Cesko-narodni sin-Milligan Auditorium · Photo: Ammodramus · Public domainMilligan’s library logs 8.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Milligan Public Library serves Milligan’s 248 residents. Last year it lent 985 books, movies and e-books and logged 2,020 visits.
Milligan’s library, in brief
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
98% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 0%. What your card is worth ↓
Open only about 6 hours a week
Milligan Public Library keeps short hours: about 6 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
More library cards than residents
248 cards for 248 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Milligan Public Library serves 248 residents with about one full-time staff. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Milligan’s civic life grade
Milligan 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 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Milligan Public Library serves 248 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
985 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 4,159 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
36 programs a year
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.
Find it
Milligan Public Library, 507 Main Street, Milligan.
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 $1.77 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Milligan cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $10K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $18K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $10K 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 248 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Milligan Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Milligan
Does Milligan have a public library?
Yes. Milligan Public Library, 507 Main Street, serves Milligan’s 248 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 6 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Milligan Public Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Milligan’s library?
It logged 8.1 visits and lent 4.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Milligan’s civic life grade?
Milligan 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 Milligan.
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.