Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Midland’s library logs 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Midland County Public Library serves 177,108 people in and around Midland from 2 locations. Last year it lent 319K books, movies and e-books and logged 189K visits.
The short version on Midland’s library
Midland County Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Midland County Public Library records 1.1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people. Borrowing is 1.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2. It also spends less than most: $20 per resident, against a typical $36. How it compares ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 64% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 75% of similar-size libraries, so the high share mostly reflects light borrowing by adults. 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; Midland County Public Library serves 177,108 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 22% of U.S. towns, #304 of 539 in Texas. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #201. 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.
Midland County Public Library spends $20 per resident, against a typical $36 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($67K–$112K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
544 community nonprofits are registered in Midland
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 (170 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 16 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.2%
4.2% of Midland’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.7% in the typical Texas 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.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Midland County Public Library serves 177,108 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 58 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Midland County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
319K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
65,321 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 6 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.
2 places to borrow in Midland
Midland County Public Library, 301 W Missouri Ave, Midland.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Midland County Public Library branch.
New in Midland? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Midland County Public Library branches in Midland
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.35 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Midland cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $3.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.5M 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 42,508 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Midland County Public Library serves 177,108 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. Midland County Public Library, 301 W Missouri Ave, serves 177,108 people in and around Midland (the survey’s count) and is open about 50 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Midland County Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Midland’s library?
It logged 1.1 visits and lent 1.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Midland’s civic life grade?
C− Midland is ahead of 22% of U.S. towns on civic life, #304 of 539 in Texas. 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.