Robert Atlas Harper House · Photo: Valis55 · CC BY-SA 3.0Greenwood’s library logs 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Scott Sebastian Regional Library serves 50,217 people in and around Greenwood. Last year it lent 59K books, movies and e-books and logged 39K visits.
Greenwood’s library, in brief
Scott Sebastian Regional Library is used less than most libraries its size
Scott Sebastian Regional Library records 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 0.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. It also spends less than most: $12 per resident, against a typical $40. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Scott Sebastian Regional Library offered 197 programs last year, 3.9 per 1,000 residents against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 11% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 39% for its size. How it compares ↓
Arkansas pays a big share
20% of the budget comes from the state, and 79% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Runs on less money than most
Scott Sebastian Regional Library spends $12 per resident, less than 93% of similar-size libraries (typical: $40). What your card is worth ↓
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; Scott Sebastian Regional Library serves 50,217 people in and around Greenwood, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Greenwood’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Greenwood is ahead of 63% of U.S. towns, #29 of 114 in Arkansas. Greenwood is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Greenwood’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
35 community nonprofits are registered in Greenwood
3.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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.
9.0%
9.0% of Greenwood’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 Greenwood’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Scott Sebastian Regional Library serves 50,217 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Scott Sebastian Regional Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
59K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
17,588 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
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
Scott Sebastian Regional Library, 18 N. Adair, Greenwood.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Scott Sebastian Regional Library branch.
New in Greenwood? 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 $1.51 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Greenwood cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $593K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $896K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $593K 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 5,649 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Scott Sebastian Regional Library serves 50,217 people in and around Greenwood, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Greenwood.
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 Greenwood
Does Greenwood have a public library?
Yes. Scott Sebastian Regional Library, 18 N. Adair, serves 50,217 people in and around Greenwood (the survey’s count) and is open about 38 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Scott Sebastian 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 Greenwood’s library?
It logged 0.8 visits and lent 1.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Greenwood’s civic life grade?
B Greenwood is ahead of 63% of U.S. towns on civic life, #29 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 Greenwood.
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.