Photo: Renelibrary · CC BY-SA 4.0Midlothian’s library logs 0.4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Midlothian Public Library serves 41,352 people in and around Midlothian. Last year it lent 45K books, movies and e-books and logged 15K visits.
Midlothian’s library, in brief
Midlothian Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Midlothian Public Library records 0.4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 0.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. It also spends less than most: $21 per resident, against a typical $40. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Midlothian Public Library offered 109 programs last year, 2.6 per 1,000 residents against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
Programs are almost all for children
83% of the 109 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.5 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 58% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 84% 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; Midlothian Public Library serves 41,352 people in and around Midlothian, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Midlothian’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Midlothian is ahead of 25% of U.S. towns, #279 of 539 in Texas. Midlothian’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Midlothian Public Library spends $21 per resident, against a typical $40 for libraries its size, and its 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($95K–$158K) 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 →
193 community nonprofits are registered in Midlothian
4.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (64 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 12 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.4%
6.4% of Midlothian’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 Midlothian’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.
Midlothian Public Library serves 41,352 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 23 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Midlothian Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
45K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
9,936 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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
Midlothian Public Library, 923 S 9th St., Midlothian.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Midlothian Public Library branch.
New in Midlothian? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Midlothian cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $881K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $694K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $881K 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 11,497 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waxahachie | Nicholas P Sims Library & Lyceum | 3.8 | 39 | C |
| Cedar Hill | Traphene Hickman Library fine-free | 3.8 | 54 | C |
| Grand Prairie | Grand Prairie Public Library System | 1.9 | 52 | D |
| Midlothian | Midlothian Public Library fine-free | — | 40 | C− |
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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Midlothian Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- System-wide. Midlothian Public Library serves 41,352 people in and around Midlothian, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Midlothian.
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 Midlothian
Does Midlothian have a public library?
Yes. Midlothian Public Library, 923 S 9th St., serves 41,352 people in and around Midlothian (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Midlothian 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 Midlothian’s library?
It logged 0.4 visits and lent 1.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Midlothian’s civic life grade?
C− Midlothian is ahead of 25% of U.S. towns on civic life, #279 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 Midlothian.
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.