Photo: Brandonrush · CC BY-SA 3.0Fayetteville’s library lends 8.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Fayetteville Public Library serves Fayetteville’s 93,949 residents. Last year it lent 1.1M books, movies and e-books and logged 400K visits.
Fayetteville’s library, in brief
Nearly everyone in Fayetteville has a card
90,084 cards for 93,949 people, or 96%. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. How it compares ↓
Fayetteville invests in its library
Fayetteville Public Library spends $155 per resident a year, about four times the typical $40 for a library its size. What your card is worth ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.3 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.2, higher than at 90% of similar-size libraries. It’s 27% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 48% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 86% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 23 items per child in Fayetteville last year. Kids & programs ↓
Programs lean toward adults
60% of the 2,410 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 715 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
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 Fayetteville’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Fayetteville is ahead of 75% of U.S. towns, #14 of 114 in Arkansas. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #30. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups ranks 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 →
439 community nonprofits are registered in Fayetteville
4.4 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 (82 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 24 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.5%
9.5% of Fayetteville’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 Fayetteville’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Fayetteville Public Library serves 93,949 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
A year at Fayetteville Public Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
1.1M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 273K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.1 times last year, on average.
305,960 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 14 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Fayetteville last year.
2 places to borrow in Fayetteville
Fayetteville Public Library, 401 W. Mountain Street, Fayetteville.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Fayetteville? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Fayetteville
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.21 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fayetteville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $15M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $18M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $15M 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 90,084 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fayetteville | Fayetteville Public Library | 12.2 | 62 | A− |
| Farmington | Farmington Public Library | — | 46 | B |
| Greenland | Greenland Public Library | — | 19 | A− |
| Springdale | Springdale Public Library | — | 64 | D |
| Elkins | Elkins Public Library | — | 52 | B− |
| Johnson | 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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Fayetteville
Does Fayetteville have a public library?
Yes. Fayetteville Public Library, 401 W. Mountain Street, serves Fayetteville’s 93,949 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 62 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Fayetteville 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 Fayetteville’s library?
It logged 4.3 visits and lent 12.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Fayetteville’s civic life grade?
A− Fayetteville is ahead of 75% of U.S. towns on civic life, #14 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 Fayetteville.
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.