Photo: Bfkenney · CC BY-SA 4.0Milwaukee’s library lends 1.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.2 for libraries its size
Milwaukee Public Library serves Milwaukee’s 577,895 residents from 13 locations. Last year it lent 1.6M books, movies and e-books and logged 1.2M visits.
What Milwaukee’s library is like
Every town next door borrows more
Milwaukee’s library lends 2.8 items per resident. Each of the eight neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Shorewood at 23. Libraries next door ↓
Federal money pays a real share
42% of the budget comes from federal grants, and 46% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Central Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1974. Today’s library there has 457,919 square feet. The buildings ↓
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 100,000+ people, Milwaukee Public Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on three. How it compares ↓
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 Milwaukee’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Milwaukee is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns, #266 of 358 in Wisconsin. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #130. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($41K–$68K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
2,046 community nonprofits are registered in Milwaukee
3.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (746 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 116 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.2%
8.2% of Milwaukee’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 Milwaukee’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1974
Milwaukee Public Library, 814 W. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Milwaukee? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Central Library
Central Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Dec 30, 1974. It is significant for its architecture at the state level. Its architecture is described as Neo-Renaissance.
The Central Library is the headquarters for the Milwaukee Public Library System as well as for the Milwaukee County Federated Library System. Designated a Milwaukee Landmark in 1969, the building remains one of Milwaukee's most monumental public structures.
More about the building →Other libraries in Milwaukee
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Milwaukee Public Library serves 577,895 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 47 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
1.6M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 2.4M books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
527,048 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 32 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 Milwaukee last year.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Milwaukee cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $34M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $26M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $34M 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 188,612 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Milwaukee ranks 9th of 9 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shorewood | Shorewood Public Library fine-free | 22.9 | 60 | A− |
| Wauwatosa | Wauwatosa Public Library fine-free | 17.6 | 65 | A |
| St. Francis | St. Francis Public Library | 12.8 | 55 | A− |
| Menomonee Falls | Menomonee Falls Public Library | 11.2 | 64 | B |
| Brown Deer | Brown Deer Public Library | 8.7 | 52 | C |
| Oak Creek | Oak Creek Public Library | 7.7 | 60 | C+ |
| Greenfield | Greenfield Public Library | 7.0 | 65 | C |
| West Allis | West Allis Public Library | 6.8 | 63 | B+ |
| Milwaukee | Milwaukee Public Library | 2.8 | 56 | C+ |
| Glendale | North Shore Library | — | 54 | C |
| West Milwaukee | 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 Milwaukee
Does Milwaukee have a public library?
Yes. Milwaukee Public Library, 814 W. Wisconsin Ave., serves Milwaukee’s 577,895 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 56 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Milwaukee 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 Milwaukee’s library?
It logged 2.0 visits and lent 2.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Milwaukee’s civic life grade?
C+ Milwaukee is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns on civic life, #266 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 Milwaukee.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.