Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 3.0Milton’s library logs 7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Milton Public Library serves Milton’s 12,358 residents. Last year it lent 107K books, movies and e-books and logged 86K visits.
The short version on Milton’s library
Nearly everyone in Milton has a card
11,462 cards for 12,358 people, or 93%. At the typical library serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, it’s 40%. How it compares ↓
People come to Milton Public Library a lot
Milton Public Library logs 7 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, more than 90% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing is above typical too, at 7 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
Programs draw a crowd
15,000 people came to the library’s 613 programs last year: 1.3 per resident, against a typical 0.4, more than at 93% of similar-size libraries. 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 Milton’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Milton is ahead of 84% of U.S. towns, #72 of 358 in Wisconsin. Milton is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
28 community nonprofits are registered in Milton
4.9 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.
9.9%
9.9% of Milton’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 Milton’s residents live; 2022.
About 6 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 Milton last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Milton Public Library serves 12,358 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 39 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
107K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 34K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.6 times last year, on average.
20,197 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Milton Public Library, 430 E. High St., #100, Milton.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Milton? 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 $3.55 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Milton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $486K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $486K 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 11,462 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Milton
Does Milton have a public library?
Yes. Milton Public Library, 430 E. High St., #100, serves Milton’s 12,358 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 53 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Milton 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 Milton’s library?
It logged 7.0 visits and lent 8.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Milton’s civic life grade?
A− Milton is ahead of 84% of U.S. towns on civic life, #72 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 Milton.
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.