Pea Ridge Commercial Historic District · Photo: Melodibit · CC BY-SA 3.0Pea Ridge’s library logs 1.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Pea Ridge Community Library serves Pea Ridge’s 13,000 residents. Last year it lent 40K books, movies and e-books and logged 19K visits.
Pea Ridge’s library, in brief
Pea Ridge Community Library is used less than most libraries its size
Pea Ridge Community Library records 1.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 1.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $19 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
48% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 48% of loans, more per resident than at 63% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 52%. 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.
What’s behind Pea Ridge’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Pea Ridge is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns, #25 of 114 in Arkansas. Pea Ridge is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Pea Ridge’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
26 community nonprofits are registered in Pea Ridge
3.2 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. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
10.6%
10.6% of Pea Ridge’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 Pea Ridge’s residents live; 2022.
48% of borrowing is digital
40K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Pea Ridge’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Each of the 20K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1 time last year, on average.
19,272 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 5 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Pea Ridge Community Library serves 13,000 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 17 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Find it
Pea Ridge Community Library, 801 N Curtis, Pea Ridge.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Pea Ridge? 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 $2.56 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Pea Ridge cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $252K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $646K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $252K 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 3,464 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Pea Ridge
Does Pea Ridge have a public library?
Yes. Pea Ridge Community Library, 801 N Curtis, serves Pea Ridge’s 13,000 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Pea Ridge Community 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 Pea Ridge’s library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 3.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Pea Ridge’s civic life grade?
B+ Pea Ridge is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns on civic life, #25 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 Pea Ridge.
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.