Alma’s library is a branch of Crawford County Library System, which lends less per resident than 75% of systems its size
Alma’s library is the Alma Public Library, a branch of Crawford County Library System, which serves 62,741 people and lent 148K items last year.
What stands out about Alma Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Alma’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Alma is ahead of 50% of U.S. towns, #50 of 114 in Arkansas. Alma is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Alma’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
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 →
14 community nonprofits are registered in Alma
2.4 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 (5 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
10.2%
10.2% of Alma’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.2% in the typical Arkansas 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 Alma’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Crawford County Library System serves 62,741 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Crawford County Library System system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
148K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
34,710 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
What kids borrow
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Find it
Alma Public Library, 624 Fayetteville Avenue, Alma.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Crawford County Library System branch.
New in Alma? 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 $2.18 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Alma cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.2M 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 17,595 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Alma Public Library is one branch of Crawford County Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 62,741 people it serves.
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 Alma
Does Alma have a public library?
Yes: Alma Public Library, 624 Fayetteville Avenue, is a branch of Crawford County Library System, which serves 62,741 people. The branch is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Crawford County Library System 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 Alma’s library?
It logged 2.5 visits and lent 2.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Alma’s civic life grade?
B− Alma is ahead of 50% of U.S. towns on civic life, #50 of 114 in Arkansas. 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 Alma.
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.