Medford Post Office · Photo: Jeff the quiet · CC0Medford’s library logs 6.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Frances L. Simek Memorial Library Medford serves Medford’s 14,884 residents. Last year it lent 149K books, movies and e-books and logged 99K visits.
The short version on Medford’s library
Medford uses its library more than almost any town its size
Frances L. Simek Memorial Library Medford logs 6.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, and lends 8.9 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 87% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 53% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 88% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 100 items per child in Medford last year. 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.
What’s behind Medford’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Medford is ahead of 82% of U.S. towns, #80 of 358 in Wisconsin. Medford is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Medford’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 →
30 community nonprofits are registered in Medford
6.7 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.2%
8.2% of Medford’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 Medford’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 48 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Frances L. Simek Memorial Library Medford serves 14,884 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
149K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 57K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.3 times last year, on average.
16,811 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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 Medford last year.
Find it
Frances L. Simek Memorial Library Medford, 400 N. Main St., Medford.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Medford? 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 $4.93 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Medford cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $478K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $478K 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 4,659 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medford | Frances L. Simek Memorial Library Medford | 10.0 | 60 | A− |
| Little Black | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| Deer Creek | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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 Medford
Does Medford have a public library?
Yes. Frances L. Simek Memorial Library Medford, 400 N. Main St., serves Medford’s 14,884 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Frances L. Simek Memorial Library Medford 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 Medford’s library?
It logged 6.7 visits and lent 10.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Medford’s civic life grade?
A− Medford is ahead of 82% of U.S. towns on civic life, #80 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 Medford.
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.