Graves Mill · Photo: Gauemj · CC BY-SA 4.0Madison’s library logs 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Madison County Library, Inc. serves 13,871 people in and around Madison. Last year it lent 57K books, movies and e-books and logged 12K visits.
What Madison’s library is like
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, Madison County Library, Inc. sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on four. How it compares ↓
Programs are almost all for children
83% of the 145 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Fewer visits than most libraries its size
Madison County Library, Inc. records 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, below 92% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing holds up better, at 3.4 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Virginia pays a big share
20% of the budget comes from the state, and 77% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
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; Madison County Library, Inc. serves 13,871 people in and around Madison, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Madison’s civic life grade
Madison 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 →
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Madison County Library, Inc. serves 13,871 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 25 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Madison County Library, Inc. system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
57K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
10,558 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
Madison County Library, 402 N Main St., Madison.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Madison County Library, Inc. branch.
New in Madison? 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 $2.54 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Madison cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $363K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $922K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $363K 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 2,867 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Madison County Library, Inc. serves 13,871 people in and around Madison, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Madison.
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 Madison
Does Madison have a public library?
Yes. Madison County Library, Inc., 402 N Main St., serves 13,871 people in and around Madison (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Madison County Library, Inc. 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 Madison’s library?
It logged 0.9 visits and lent 4.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Madison’s civic life grade?
Madison 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 Madison.
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.