Photo: PortlandSaint · CC BY 4.0Milwaukie’s library lends 14 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Ledding Library serves Milwaukie’s 41,319 residents. Last year it lent 599K print books and media and logged 219K visits.
The short version on Milwaukie’s library
Milwaukie uses its library more than almost any town its size
Ledding Library logs 5.3 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, and lends 14 print items per resident against a typical 3.7. On both counts it beats 89% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 50% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 96% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 79 items per child in Milwaukie last year. Kids & programs ↓
The shelves work hard
Each of the 89,000 items on the shelves went out about 6.7 times last year, on average. 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.
What’s behind Milwaukie’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Milwaukie is ahead of 83% of U.S. towns, #39 of 106 in Oregon. Milwaukie 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 →
106 community nonprofits are registered in Milwaukie
4.9 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 (35 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.7%
9.7% of Milwaukie’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 Milwaukie’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 Milwaukie last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Ledding Library serves 41,319 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 186 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
599K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 89K books and other items on the shelves went out about 6.7 times last year, on average.
Find it
Ledding Library, 10660 SE 21st Ave, Milwaukie.
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 $3.93 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Milwaukie cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $8.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.3M 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 20,804 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.
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.
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 Milwaukie
Does Milwaukie have a public library?
Yes. Ledding Library, 10660 SE 21st Ave, serves Milwaukie’s 41,319 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 62 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ledding Library fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Milwaukie’s library?
It logged 5.3 visits and lent 14.5 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Milwaukie’s civic life grade?
A− Milwaukie is ahead of 83% of U.S. towns on civic life, #39 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 Milwaukie.
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.