Photo: Tedder · CC BY-SA 4.0Milford’s library runs 91 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Milford Public Library serves Milford’s 1,713 residents. Last year it lent 8,007 print books and media and logged 5,999 visits.
What Milford’s library is like
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 100% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 87% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 19 items per child in Milford last year. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Milford Public Library serves 1,713 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 32 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 ↓
Most programs are for young children
67% of the 156 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1 a week for ages 0–5. 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 Milford’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Milford is ahead of 36% of U.S. towns. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Milford’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($62K–$103K) 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 →
Milford has few registered community nonprofits
0.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.2%
9.2% of Milford’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.2% in the typical Utah 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.
About 2 kids’ programs a week
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 Milford last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Milford Public Library serves 1,713 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
8,007 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 12K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Milford Public Library, 400 South 100 West, Milford.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
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 $1.46 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Milford cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $85K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $124K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $85K 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 1,112 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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. Milford Public Library, 400 South 100 West, serves Milford’s 1,713 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 32 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Milford 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 3.5 visits and lent 4.7 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Milford’s civic life grade?
C+ Milford is ahead of 36% 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.