Photo: User:CookieMonster755 · CC BY-SA 3.0Medford’s library runs 22 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 9 for libraries its size
Jackson County Library Services serves 222,762 people in and around Medford. Last year it lent 1.3M print books and media and logged 723K visits.
What stands out about Jackson County Library Services
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Medford’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Medford is ahead of 76% of U.S. towns, #54 of 106 in Oregon. Medford is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks highest.
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 →
341 community nonprofits are registered in Medford
4.0 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 (80 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 8 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
10.3%
10.3% of Medford’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.9% in the typical Oregon 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 Medford’s residents live; 2022.
About 57 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 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Jackson County Library Services serves 222,762 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 49 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Jackson County Library Services system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
1.3M print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Find it
Jackson County Library Services, 205 S Central Ave, Medford.
No late fees. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Jackson County Library Services branch.
New in Medford? 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 $1.67 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Medford cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $16M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $26M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $16M 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 105,824 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medford | Jackson County Library Services fine-free | — | 52 | A− |
| Central Point | Central Point Branch Library fine-free | — | 41 | A− |
| Phoenix | Phoenix Branch Library fine-free | — | 31 | 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. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. Jackson County Library Services serves 222,762 people in and around Medford, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Medford.
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 Medford
Does Medford have a public library?
Yes. Jackson County Library Services, 205 S Central Ave, serves 222,762 people in and around Medford (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Jackson County Library Services fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Medford’s library?
It logged 3.2 visits and lent 5.7 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Medford’s civic life grade?
A− Medford is ahead of 76% of U.S. towns on civic life, #54 of 106 in Oregon. 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 Medford.
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.