Photo: Brandonrush · CC BY-SA 3.0Arkadelphia’s library logs 1.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Clark County Library serves 22,320 people in and around Arkadelphia. Last year it lent 47K books, movies and e-books and logged 30K visits.
What Arkadelphia’s library is like
Clark County Library is used less than most libraries its size
Clark County Library records 1.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 1.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $20 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Programs are almost all for children
86% of the 190 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.8 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
The branch is a National Register landmark
Clark County Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1974. Today’s library there has 7,225 square feet. The building ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Clark County Library offered 190 programs last year, 8.5 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
48% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 48% of loans. That’s partly because print borrowing is low: digital loans per resident are below typical too. What people borrow ↓
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; Clark County Library serves 22,320 people in and around Arkadelphia, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Arkadelphia’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Arkadelphia is ahead of 55% of U.S. towns, #40 of 114 in Arkansas. Arkadelphia is graded on two of the three inputs. Arkadelphia’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
67 community nonprofits are registered in Arkadelphia
6.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (19 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.7%
5.7% of Arkadelphia’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 Arkadelphia’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1974
Clark County Library, 609 Caddo Street, Arkadelphia.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Clark County Library branch.
New in Arkadelphia? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Clark County Library
Clark County Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Nov 5, 1974. It is significant for its education and architecture at the local level.
The Clark County Library is located at 609 Caddo St. in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. It is located in a Classical Revival single-story brick building designed by Charles L. Thompson, a noted Little Rock architect, and built in 1903. It is one of the oldest institutional library buildings in Arkansas. It was built by the local Women's Library Association, and transferred to county control in 1974.
More about the building →Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Clark County Library serves 22,320 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 15 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Clark County Library system. The library’s own count.
48% of borrowing is digital
47K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
22,171 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.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.68 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Arkadelphia cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $449K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $753K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $449K 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 11,127 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arkadelphia | Clark County Library fine-free | — | 34 | B |
| Caddo Valley | 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.
- System-wide. Clark County Library serves 22,320 people in and around Arkadelphia, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Arkadelphia.
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 Arkadelphia
Does Arkadelphia have a public library?
Yes. Clark County Library, 609 Caddo Street, serves 22,320 people in and around Arkadelphia (the survey’s count) and is open about 34 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Clark County 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 Arkadelphia’s library?
It logged 1.3 visits and lent 2.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Arkadelphia’s civic life grade?
B Arkadelphia is ahead of 55% of U.S. towns on civic life, #40 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 Arkadelphia.
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.