Photo: Thomas R Machnitzki ([email protected]) · CC BY 3.0Blytheville’s library is a branch of Mississippi/Crittenden Regional Library, which lends less per resident than 96% of systems its size
Blytheville’s library is the Mississippi County Library System, a branch of Mississippi/Crittenden Regional Library, which serves 64,204 people and lent 57K items last year.
The short version on Blytheville’s library
The Mississippi/Crittenden Regional Library system is used less than most libraries its size
The Mississippi/Crittenden Regional Library system records 1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 0.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
The Mississippi/Crittenden Regional Library system offered 180 programs last year, 2.8 per 1,000 residents against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
47% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 47% 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; Blytheville’s library is a branch of Mississippi/Crittenden Regional Library, so they cover the whole system (64,204 people), not just the Blytheville branch.
What’s behind Blytheville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Blytheville is ahead of 28% of U.S. towns, #75 of 114 in Arkansas. Blytheville is graded on two of the three inputs. Blytheville’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($36K–$60K) 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 →
64 community nonprofits are registered in Blytheville
5.0 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 (29 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 5 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
3.0%
3.0% of Blytheville’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 Blytheville’s residents live; 2022.
47% of borrowing is digital
57K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
27,188 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Mississippi/Crittenden Regional Library serves 64,204 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Mississippi/Crittenden Regional Library system. The library’s own count.
About 2 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
Mississippi County Library System, 200 North Fifth Street, Blytheville.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Mississippi/Crittenden Regional Library branch.
New in Blytheville? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Blytheville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $904K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.6M 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 26,108 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blytheville | Mississippi County Library System fine-free | — | 52 | C |
| Gosnell | 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.
- System-wide. Mississippi County Library System is one branch of Mississippi/Crittenden Regional Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 64,204 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 Blytheville
Does Blytheville have a public library?
Yes: Mississippi County Library System, 200 North Fifth Street, is a branch of Mississippi/Crittenden Regional Library, which serves 64,204 people. The branch is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mississippi/Crittenden Regional 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 Blytheville’s library?
It logged 1.0 visits and lent 0.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Blytheville’s civic life grade?
C Blytheville is ahead of 28% of U.S. towns on civic life, #75 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 Blytheville.
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.