Madrid’s library runs 172 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Hepburn Library of Madrid serves Madrid’s 1,744 residents. Last year it lent 5,135 print books and media and logged 5,074 visits.
Madrid’s library, in brief
A small-town library
Hepburn Library of Madrid serves 1,744 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 ↓
Open only about 20 hours a week
Hepburn Library of Madrid keeps short hours: about 20 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Potsdam Public Library in Potsdam, next door, is open about 62 hours a week. The building ↓
Madrid out-borrows every town next door
At 2.9 loans per resident, Madrid leads the four towns here. The closest is Waddington, at 2.9. Libraries next door ↓
A place to get online
Hepburn Library of Madrid logs about 112 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 3 public computers. That’s 23 sessions per resident a year. 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 Madrid’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Madrid is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 →
8 community nonprofits are registered in Madrid
4.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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.
9.2%
9.2% of Madrid’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.4% in the typical New York 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 Madrid’s residents live; 2022.
About 4 kids’ programs a week
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.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Madrid last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Hepburn Library of Madrid serves 1,744 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
5,135 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 14K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.4 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Hepburn Library of Madrid, 11 Church Street, Madrid.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Madrid? 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 $3.39 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Madrid cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $62K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $209K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $62K 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 498 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Madrid borrows the most per resident of the 4 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Madrid | Hepburn Library of Madrid fine-free | 2.9 | 20 | B+ |
| Waddington | Hepburn Library of Waddington fine-free | 2.9 | 32 | B |
| Lisbon | Hepburn Library of Lisbon fine-free | 1.8 | 31 | C− |
| Norfolk | Hepburn Library of Norfolk fine-free | 1.1 | 40 | C− |
| Potsdam | Potsdam Public Library fine-free | — | 62 | 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. New York libraries often don’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Madrid
Does Madrid have a public library?
Yes. Hepburn Library of Madrid, 11 Church Street, serves Madrid’s 1,744 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 20 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Hepburn Library of Madrid 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 Madrid’s library?
It logged 2.9 visits and lent 2.9 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Madrid’s civic life grade?
B+ Madrid is ahead of 66% 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 Madrid.
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.