Photo: Beyond My Ken · CC BY-SA 4.0Milford’s library runs 4.7 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Pike County Public Library serves 58,535 people in and around Milford. Last year it lent 144K books, movies and e-books and logged 62K visits.
What Milford’s library is like
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, Pike County Public Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on seven. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Pike County Public Library offered 274 programs last year, 4.7 per 1,000 residents against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
29% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 36%. What your card is worth ↓
Runs on less money than most
Pike County Public Library spends $12 per resident, less than 93% of similar-size libraries (typical: $40). What your card is worth ↓
Fewer visits than most libraries its size
Pike County Public Library records 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, below 89% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing holds up better, at 1.9 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
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; Pike County Public Library serves 58,535 people in and around Milford, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Milford’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Milford is ahead of 54% of U.S. towns. Milford is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Milford’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 →
4 community nonprofits are registered in Milford
3.4 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 (0 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.5%
8.5% of Milford’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 Milford’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Pike County Public Library serves 58,535 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 35 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Pike County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
144K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
32,597 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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.
Find it
Pike County Public Library, 201 Broad Street, Milford.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Pike County Public Library branch.
New in Milford? 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 $3.26 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Milford cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $702K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $702K 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 15,732 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milford | Pike County Public Library | — | 47 | B− |
| Dingman Township | Dingman Township Branch Library | — | 33 | B |
| Milford Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Montague 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.
- System-wide. Pike County Public Library serves 58,535 people in and around Milford, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Milford.
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 Milford
Does Milford have a public library?
Yes. Pike County Public Library, 201 Broad Street, serves 58,535 people in and around Milford (the survey’s count) and is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Pike County 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 Milford’s library?
It logged 1.1 visits and lent 2.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Milford’s civic life grade?
B− Milford is ahead of 54% 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 Milford.
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.