Mt. Olive Rosenwald School · Photo: Valis55 · CC BY-SA 4.0Hermitage’s library is a branch of Southeast Arkansas Regional Library, which lends less per resident than 87% of systems its size
Hermitage’s library is the Hermitage Branch Library, a branch of Southeast Arkansas Regional Library, which serves 59,331 people and lent 99K items last year.
What Hermitage’s library is like
Open only about 15 hours a week
The Hermitage branch keeps short hours: about 15 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, the Southeast Arkansas Regional Library system sits below the middle on all five per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on three. 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; Hermitage’s library is a branch of Southeast Arkansas Regional Library, so they cover the whole system (59,331 people), not just the Hermitage branch.
What’s behind Hermitage’s civic life grade
Hermitage isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Below most similar-size libraries on all 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Southeast Arkansas Regional Library serves 59,331 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Southeast Arkansas Regional Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
99K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
34,000 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
What kids borrow
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Find it
Hermitage Branch Library, 122 S. Main, Hermitage.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Southeast Arkansas Regional Library branch.
New in Hermitage? 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 $1.50 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hermitage cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1M 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 23,164 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Hermitage Branch Library is one branch of Southeast Arkansas Regional Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 59,331 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 Hermitage
Does Hermitage have a public library?
Yes: Hermitage Branch Library, 122 S. Main, is a branch of Southeast Arkansas Regional Library, which serves 59,331 people. The branch is open about 15 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Southeast Arkansas Regional 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 Hermitage’s library?
It logged 1.9 visits and lent 1.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Hermitage’s civic life grade?
Hermitage isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Hermitage.
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.