Photo: Morgan Riley · CC BY 3.0Midlothian’s library is a branch of Chesterfield County Public Library, which lends more per resident than 77% of systems its size
Midlothian’s library is the Midlothian Library, a branch of Chesterfield County Public Library, which serves 369,943 people and lent 3M items last year.
What stands out about Midlothian Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Midlothian’s civic life grade
Midlothian isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Chesterfield County Public Library, so there is no town figure for visits.
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 →
Volunteering in Midlothian
Midlothian is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
9.1%
9.1% of Midlothian’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.9% in the typical Virginia 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.
About 30 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Chesterfield County Public Library serves 369,943 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 95 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Chesterfield County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: library cards. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
3M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
804,283 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Midlothian Library, 100 Millworks Crossing, Midlothian.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Chesterfield County 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.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.04 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Midlothian resident borrows (the library didn’t report its card count for 2024).
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $14M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $43M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $14M 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 resident’s month = the library’s yearly loans and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ the 369,943 people it serves ÷ 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Midlothian | Midlothian Library | — | 60 | — unincorporated |
| Brandermill | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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.
- Not reported for 2024: library cards. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
- System-wide. Midlothian Library is one branch of Chesterfield County Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 369,943 people it serves.
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 Library, 100 Millworks Crossing, is a branch of Chesterfield County Public Library, which serves 369,943 people. The branch is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Chesterfield County 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 Midlothian’s library?
It logged 2.4 visits and lent 8.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Midlothian’s civic life grade?
Midlothian isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Chesterfield County Public Library, so there is no town figure for visits. 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.