Prairie De Ann Battlefield · Photo: Valis55 · CC BY-SA 4.0Prescott’s library logs 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Southwest Arkansas Regional Library serves 18,970 people in and around Prescott. Last year it lent 21K print books and media and logged 17K visits.
The short version on Prescott’s library
Southwest Arkansas Regional Library is used less than most libraries its size
Southwest Arkansas Regional Library records 0.9 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 1.1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $3 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Arkansas pays a big share
29% of the budget comes from the state, and 71% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Runs on less money than most
Southwest Arkansas Regional Library spends $3 per resident, less than 99% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). 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; Southwest Arkansas Regional Library serves 18,970 people in and around Prescott, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Prescott’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Prescott is ahead of 77% of U.S. towns, #12 of 114 in Arkansas. Prescott is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Prescott’s 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 →
20 community nonprofits are registered in Prescott
6.6 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 (8 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.
7.6%
7.6% of Prescott’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 Prescott’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.
Southwest Arkansas Regional Library serves 18,970 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
A year at Southwest Arkansas Regional Library
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Southwest Arkansas Regional Library system. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: hours open. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Books and media off the shelf
21K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Borrow from home with your card.
What kids borrow
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Find it
Southwest Arkansas Regional Library, 121 West Main, Prescott.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Good at every Southwest Arkansas Regional Library branch.
New in Prescott? 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 $5.54 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Prescott cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $64K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $356K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $64K 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 6,053 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Not reported for 2024: hours open. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. Southwest Arkansas Regional Library serves 18,970 people in and around Prescott, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Prescott.
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 Prescott
Does Prescott have a public library?
Yes. Southwest Arkansas Regional Library, 121 West Main, serves 18,970 people in and around Prescott (the survey’s count).
Is Southwest 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 Prescott’s library?
It logged 0.9 visits and lent 1.1 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Prescott’s civic life grade?
A− Prescott is ahead of 77% of U.S. towns on civic life, #12 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 Prescott.
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.