Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Little Rock’s library is a branch of Central Arkansas Library System, which lends more per resident than 55% of systems its size
Little Rock’s library is the Central Arkansas Library System - Main Library, a branch of Central Arkansas Library System, which serves 344,553 people and lent 2.4M items last year.
Little Rock’s library, in brief
Most of the system’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 50% of loans, more per resident than at 86% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 50%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
Programs draw a crowd
170,000 people came to the system’s 6,701 programs last year: 0.5 per resident, against a typical 0.2, more than at 90% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Nine branches in Little Rock
Little Rock has nine branches of the Central Arkansas Library System, which serves 344,553 people across the area. One card works at all of them, and at every other branch in the system. The buildings ↓
A well-funded system
The Central Arkansas Library System spends $79 per resident a year, about twice the typical $36 for a library its size. Almost all of it (98%) comes from local taxes. 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; Little Rock’s library is a branch of Central Arkansas Library System, so they cover the whole system (344,553 people), not just the Little Rock branch.
What’s behind Little Rock’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Little Rock is ahead of 64% of U.S. towns, #27 of 114 in Arkansas. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #53. Little Rock is graded on two of the three inputs. Little Rock’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
1,363 community nonprofits are registered in Little Rock
6.7 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 (298 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 62 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.5%
6.5% of Little Rock’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 Little Rock’s residents live; 2022.
About 51 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.
Central Arkansas Library System serves 344,553 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 64 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Central Arkansas Library System system. The library’s own count.
50% of borrowing is digital
2.4M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
1,206,449 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
9 places to borrow in Little Rock
Central Arkansas Library System - Main Library, 100 Rock Street, Little Rock.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Central Arkansas Library System branch.
New in Little Rock? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Central Arkansas Library System branches in Little Rock
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.44 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Little Rock cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $27M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $39M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $27M 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 204,587 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Little Rock | North Little Rock Public Library - William F. Laman Public L fine-free | 3.5 | 46 | B− |
| Little Rock | Central Arkansas Library System - Main Library | — | 52 | B |
| College Station | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Alexander | 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.
- System-wide. Central Arkansas Library System - Main Library is one branch of Central Arkansas Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 344,553 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 Little Rock
Does Little Rock have a public library?
Yes: Central Arkansas Library System - Main Library, 100 Rock Street, is a branch of Central Arkansas Library System, which serves 344,553 people. The branch is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Central Arkansas Library System 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 Little Rock’s library?
It logged 3.5 visits and lent 7.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Little Rock’s civic life grade?
B Little Rock is ahead of 64% of U.S. towns on civic life, #27 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 Little Rock.
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.