Photo: LeeG7144 · CC BY-SA 3.0Madison Township’s library lends 20 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Madison Public Library serves 18,552 people in and around Madison Township. Last year it lent 442K books, movies and e-books and logged 91K visits.
Madison Township’s library, in brief
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Madison Public Library ran 1,362 programs last year, about 26 a week. That’s 73 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24. People show up: 23,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
A system of heavy borrowers
Madison Public Library lends 20 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, more than 99% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Ohio pays a big share
46% of the budget comes from the state, and 39% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Kids’ borrowing is a standout
Children’s books and media are 54% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 99% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 4 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.1, higher than at 94% of similar-size libraries. It’s 17% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
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 Public Library serves 18,552 people in and around Madison Township, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Madison Township’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Madison Township is ahead of 46% of U.S. towns, #575 of 914 in Ohio. Library visits hold the grade up; Madison Township’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
53 community nonprofits are registered in Madison Township
2.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (15 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.1%
7.1% of Madison Township’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.5% in the typical Ohio 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 Township’s residents live; 2022.
About 12 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 all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Madison Public Library serves 18,552 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 143 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Madison Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
442K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
74,139 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Madison Public Library, 6111 Middle Ridge Rd., 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 Madison Public Library branch.
New in Madison Township? 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 $4.43 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Madison Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.5M 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 12,806 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 Township | Madison Public Library | — | 51 | B− |
| Perry Township | Perry Public Library fine-free | — | 62 | B |
| Thompson Township | Thompson Branch fine-free | — | 68 | A− |
| Geneva Township | Geneva Public Library fine-free | — | 58 | B− |
| Harpersfield Township | None of its own | — | — | B− |
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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Madison Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- System-wide. Madison Public Library serves 18,552 people in and around Madison Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Madison Township.
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 Township
Does Madison Township have a public library?
Yes. Madison Public Library, 6111 Middle Ridge Rd., serves 18,552 people in and around Madison Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Madison 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 Township’s library?
It logged 4.9 visits and lent 23.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Madison Township’s civic life grade?
B− Madison Township is ahead of 46% of U.S. towns on civic life, #575 of 914 in Ohio. 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 Township.
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.