Photo: Tim Kiser (w:User:Malepheasant) · CC BY-SA 2.5Middlebourne’s library runs 54 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Tyler County Public Library serves 3,675 people in and around Middlebourne. Last year it lent 5,617 books, movies and e-books and logged 6,134 visits.
What Middlebourne’s library is like
Programs are almost all for children
90% of the 198 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 35 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
32% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 52%. What your card is worth ↓
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; Tyler County Public Library serves 3,675 people in and around Middlebourne, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Middlebourne’s civic life grade
Middlebourne isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Tyler County Public Library serves 3,675 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Tyler County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
5,617 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Middlebourne’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
1,656 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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.
Find it
Tyler County Public Library, 300 Broad Street, Middlebourne.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Tyler County Public Library branch.
New in Middlebourne? 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 $1.13 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Middlebourne cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $98K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $110K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $98K 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 1,471 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Tyler County Public Library serves 3,675 people in and around Middlebourne, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Middlebourne.
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 Middlebourne
Does Middlebourne have a public library?
Yes. Tyler County Public Library, 300 Broad Street, serves 3,675 people in and around Middlebourne (the survey’s count) and is open about 38 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Tyler County 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 Middlebourne’s library?
It logged 1.7 visits and lent 1.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Middlebourne’s civic life grade?
Middlebourne isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Middlebourne.
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.