Photo: Brandonrush · CC BY-SA 3.0Hot Springs’ library logs 2.9 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Garland County Library serves 100,180 people in and around Hot Springs. Last year it lent 827K books, movies and e-books and logged 292K visits.
The short version on Hot Springs’s library
Programs draw a crowd
65,000 people came to the system’s 1,099 programs last year: 0.6 per resident, against a typical 0.2, more than at 95% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
40% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 40% of loans, more per resident than at 83% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 60%. 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; Garland County Library serves 100,180 people in and around Hot Springs, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Hot Springs’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Hot Springs is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns, #9 of 114 in Arkansas. Hot Springs is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Hot Springs’ count of community nonprofits 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 →
230 community nonprofits are registered in Hot Springs
6.1 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 (59 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.2%
8.2% of Hot Springs’ 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 Hot Springs’ residents live; 2022.
About 8 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Garland County Library serves 100,180 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
A year at Garland County Library
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Garland County Library system. The library’s own count.
40% of borrowing is digital
827K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
332,989 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Garland County Library, 1427 Malvern Avenue, Hot Springs.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Garland County Library branch.
New in Hot Springs? 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 $3.47 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hot Springs cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $3.9M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $13M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.9M 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 65,591 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hot Springs | Garland County Library fine-free | — | 58 | A− |
| Piney | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Lake Hamilton | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Rockwell | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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. Garland County Library serves 100,180 people in and around Hot Springs, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Hot Springs.
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 Hot Springs
Does Hot Springs have a public library?
Yes. Garland County Library, 1427 Malvern Avenue, serves 100,180 people in and around Hot Springs (the survey’s count) and is open about 58 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Garland County 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 Hot Springs’ library?
It logged 2.9 visits and lent 8.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Hot Springs’ civic life grade?
A− Hot Springs is ahead of 80% of U.S. towns on civic life, #9 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 Hot Springs.
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.