Photo: Jma661 · CC BY-SA 3.0Newport’s library logs 0.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
W.A. Billingsley/Jackson County Library serves 16,761 people in and around Newport. Last year it lent 6,069 print books and media and logged 9,211 visits.
What stands out about W.A. Billingsley/Jackson County Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Newport’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Newport is ahead of 31% of U.S. towns, #72 of 114 in Arkansas. Newport is graded on two of the three inputs. Newport’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 →
38 community nonprofits are registered in Newport
4.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
4.5%
4.5% of Newport’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 Newport’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 5 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
W.A. Billingsley/Jackson County Library serves 16,761 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole W.A. Billingsley/Jackson County Library system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
6,069 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
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
W.A. Billingsley/Jackson County Library, 213 Walnut Street, Newport.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every W.A. Billingsley/Jackson County Library branch.
New in Newport? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Newport cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $263K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $107K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $263K 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 5,344 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newport | W.A. Billingsley/Jackson County Library fine-free | — | 38 | C |
| Diaz | 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.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. W.A. Billingsley/Jackson County Library serves 16,761 people in and around Newport, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Newport.
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 Newport
Does Newport have a public library?
Yes. W.A. Billingsley/Jackson County Library, 213 Walnut Street, serves 16,761 people in and around Newport (the survey’s count) and is open about 38 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is W.A. Billingsley/Jackson 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 Newport’s library?
It logged 0.5 visits and lent 0.4 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Newport’s civic life grade?
C Newport is ahead of 31% of U.S. towns on civic life, #72 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 Newport.
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.