Photo: Thomas R Machnitzki ([email protected]) · CC BY 3.0Paragould’s library is a branch of Northeast Arkansas Regional Library, which lends less per resident than 79% of systems its size
Paragould’s library is the Greene County Library, a branch of Northeast Arkansas Regional Library, which serves 75,834 people and lent 198K items last year.
What stands out about Greene County Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Paragould’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Paragould is ahead of 28% of U.S. towns, #76 of 114 in Arkansas. Paragould is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($43K–$71K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
81 community nonprofits are registered in Paragould
2.7 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 (18 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.
7.2%
7.2% of Paragould’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 Paragould’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Northeast Arkansas Regional Library serves 75,834 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 18 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Northeast Arkansas Regional Library system. The library’s own count.
41% of borrowing is digital
198K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
80,717 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
Greene County Library, 120 North 12th Street, Paragould.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Northeast Arkansas Regional Library branch.
New in Paragould? 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 $1.56 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Paragould cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.9M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.9M 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 31,036 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Greene County Library is one branch of Northeast Arkansas Regional Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 75,834 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 Paragould
Does Paragould have a public library?
Yes: Greene County Library, 120 North 12th Street, is a branch of Northeast Arkansas Regional Library, which serves 75,834 people. The branch is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Northeast 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 Paragould’s library?
It logged 1.5 visits and lent 2.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Paragould’s civic life grade?
C Paragould is ahead of 28% of U.S. towns on civic life, #76 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 Paragould.
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.