Photo: Nyttend · Public domainMidland’s library logs 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Carnegie Library of Midland serves 4,431 people in and around Midland. Last year it lent 11K books, movies and e-books and logged 5,013 visits.
The short version on Midland’s library
Carnegie Library of Midland is used less than most libraries its size
Carnegie Library of Midland records 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 1.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $13 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
35% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 24%. What your card is worth ↓
Runs on less money than most
Carnegie Library of Midland spends $13 per resident, less than 93% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). What your card is worth ↓
42% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 42% of loans. Print still makes up 58%. 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; Carnegie Library of Midland serves 4,431 people in and around Midland, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Midland’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Midland is ahead of 68% of U.S. towns. Midland is graded on two of the three inputs. Midland’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
22 community nonprofits are registered in Midland
9.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.2%
6.2% of Midland’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.0% in the typical Pennsylvania 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 Midland’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Carnegie Library of Midland serves 4,431 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 8 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Carnegie Library of Midland system. The library’s own count.
42% of borrowing is digital
11K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
4,778 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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.
Find it
Carnegie Library of Midland, 61 Ninth St., Midland.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Carnegie Library of Midland branch.
New in Midland? 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 $3.20 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Midland cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $57K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $182K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $57K 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 1,237 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Midland | Carnegie Library of Midland | — | 28 | B+ |
| Ohioville | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Greene Township | None of its own | — | — | A |
| Industry | 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.
- System-wide. Carnegie Library of Midland serves 4,431 people in and around Midland, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Midland.
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 Midland
Does Midland have a public library?
Yes. Carnegie Library of Midland, 61 Ninth St., serves 4,431 people in and around Midland (the survey’s count) and is open about 28 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Carnegie Library of Midland 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 Midland’s library?
It logged 1.1 visits and lent 2.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Midland’s civic life grade?
B+ Midland is ahead of 68% 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 Midland.
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.