Photo: college.library · CC BY 2.0Madison’s library logs 4.5 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Madison Public Library serves Madison’s 304,881 residents from 9 locations. Last year it lent 3.1M books, movies and e-books and logged 1.4M visits.
What Madison’s library is like
Madison uses its library more than almost any town its size
Madison Public Library logs 4.5 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, and lends 7.1 print items per resident against a typical 3.2. On both counts it beats 85% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Open about 68 hours a week
The main library is open about 68 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 114 items go out. The buildings ↓
A place to get online
Madison Public Library logs about 10,329 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 168 public computers. That’s 12 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
Nine places to borrow in Madison
Madison Public Library runs nine locations, and one card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
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.
What’s behind Madison’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Madison is ahead of 84% of U.S. towns, #67 of 358 in Wisconsin. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #15. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Madison’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
1,690 community nonprofits are registered in Madison
6.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (207 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 76 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.5%
9.5% of Madison’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.6% in the typical Wisconsin 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 Madison’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 114 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Madison Public Library serves 304,881 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
3.1M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 748K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.9 times last year, on average.
970,244 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 30 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 Madison last year.
9 places to borrow in Madison
Madison Public Library, 201 W. Mifflin St., Madison.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Madison? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Madison
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.65 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Madison cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $22M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $22M 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 153,032 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Madison ranks 4th of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monona | Monona Public Library fine-free | 20.1 | 62 | A− |
| Middleton | Middleton Public Library fine-free | 19.1 | 64 | A |
| McFarland | E.D. Locke Public Library fine-free | 16.3 | 65 | A− |
| Madison | Madison Public Library fine-free | 10.3 | 68 | A− |
| Fitchburg | Fitchburg Public Library fine-free | 10.1 | 63 | C+ |
| Burke | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Blooming Grove | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Westport | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Verona | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Middleton | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Cottage Grove | None of its own | — | — | 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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Public Library, 201 W. Mifflin St., serves Madison’s 304,881 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 68 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Madison 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 Madison’s library?
It logged 4.5 visits and lent 10.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Madison’s civic life grade?
A− Madison is ahead of 84% of U.S. towns on civic life, #67 of 358 in Wisconsin. 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 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.