Photo: Brandonrush · CC BY-SA 4.0Fort Smith’s library lends 2.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Fort Smith Public Library serves Fort Smith’s 89,142 residents from 4 locations. Last year it lent 237K print books and media and logged 214K visits.
Fort Smith’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
114,029 cards for 89,142 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. How it compares ↓
Four places to borrow in Fort Smith
Fort Smith Public Library runs four locations, and one card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
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 Fort Smith’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Fort Smith is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns, #74 of 114 in Arkansas. Fort Smith’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 ($41K–$69K) 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 →
342 community nonprofits are registered in Fort Smith
3.8 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 (109 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 9 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.2%
6.2% of Fort Smith’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 Fort Smith’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 4 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Fort Smith Public Library serves 89,142 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 25 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: staff. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Books and media off the shelf
237K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Fort Smith’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 258K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
4 places to borrow in Fort Smith
Fort Smith Public Library, 3201 Rogers Avenue, Fort Smith.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Fort Smith? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Fort Smith
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.06 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fort Smith cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4M 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 114,029 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.
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.
- Not reported for 2024: staff. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
- 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 Fort Smith
Does Fort Smith have a public library?
Yes. Fort Smith Public Library, 3201 Rogers Avenue, serves Fort Smith’s 89,142 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Fort Smith 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 Fort Smith’s library?
It logged 2.4 visits and lent 2.7 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Fort Smith’s civic life grade?
C Fort Smith is ahead of 30% of U.S. towns on civic life, #74 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 Fort Smith.
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.