Photo: Alfredo Carrillo · CC BY 2.0Bentonville’s library logs 5.8 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Bentonville Public Library serves Bentonville’s 59,471 residents. Last year it lent 632K print books and media and logged 346K visits.
What Bentonville’s library is like
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 65% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 96% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 26 items per child in Bentonville last year. Kids & programs ↓
Bentonville uses its library more than almost any town its size
Bentonville Public Library logs 5.8 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, and lends 11 print items per resident against a typical 3.7. On both counts it beats 91% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. 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 Bentonville’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Bentonville is ahead of 74% of U.S. towns, #17 of 114 in Arkansas. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank 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 →
231 community nonprofits are registered in Bentonville
4.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (71 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 12 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.6%
8.6% of Bentonville’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 Bentonville’s residents live; 2022.
What kids borrow
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Bentonville last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 5 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Bentonville Public Library serves 59,471 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 243 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
632K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 162K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.9 times last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Bentonville Public Library, 405 South Main Street, Bentonville.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Bentonville? 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 $3.49 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bentonville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $8.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.5M 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 24,089 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bentonville | Bentonville Public Library | 10.6 | 57 | B+ |
| Rogers | Rogers Public Library fine-free | 3.5 | 66 | C− |
| Bella Vista | Bella Vista Public Library | — | — | B |
| Centerton | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Cave Springs | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Highfill | None of its own | — | — | — too few inputs |
| Little Flock | None of its own | — | — | D |
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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Bentonville Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Bentonville
Does Bentonville have a public library?
Yes. Bentonville Public Library, 405 South Main Street, serves Bentonville’s 59,471 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 57 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bentonville 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 Bentonville’s library?
It logged 5.8 visits and lent 10.6 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Bentonville’s civic life grade?
B+ Bentonville is ahead of 74% of U.S. towns on civic life, #17 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 Bentonville.
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.