Middleton’s library lends 18 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Middleton Community Library serves Middleton’s 694 residents. Last year it lent 18K books, movies and e-books and logged 4,678 visits.
Middleton’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
4,988 cards for 694 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Middleton is a town of borrowers
Middleton Community Library lends 18 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 96% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 8.4 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 97% of similar-size libraries. It’s 32% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
A small-town library
Middleton Community Library serves 694 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 26 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 36% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 93% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 20 items per child in Middleton last year. Kids & programs ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Middleton’s civic life grade
Middleton isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Middleton Community Library serves 694 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 14 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
18K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 17K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
5,852 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
84 programs a year
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 Middleton last year.
Find it
Middleton Community Library, 110 Bolton Avenue, Middleton.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Middleton? 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 $6.98 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Middleton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $53K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $373K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $53K 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 4,988 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Middleton
Does Middleton have a public library?
Yes. Middleton Community Library, 110 Bolton Avenue, serves Middleton’s 694 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 26 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Middleton Community 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 Middleton’s library?
It logged 6.7 visits and lent 26.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Middleton’s civic life grade?
Middleton isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Middleton.
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.