Photo: PhotolitherlandChris Litherland · CC BY-SA 3.0Russellville’s library runs 21 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Pope County Library System serves 64,829 people in and around Russellville. Last year it lent 178K books, movies and e-books and logged 129K visits.
What stands out about Pope County Library System
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Russellville’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Russellville is ahead of 77% of U.S. towns, #10 of 114 in Arkansas. Russellville is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
131 community nonprofits are registered in Russellville
4.5 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 (42 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.
9.3%
9.3% of Russellville’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 Russellville’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 2000
Pope County Library System, 116 East Third Street, Russellville.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Pope County Library System branch.
New in Russellville? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Russellville Public Library
Russellville Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Nov 20, 2000. It is significant for its politics, architecture and social history at the local level.
The Pope County Public Library is the public library serving Russellville, Arkansas and the surrounding area. It is the main branch of the Pope County Library system, located at 116 East Third Street.
More about the building →Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Pope County Library System serves 64,829 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 20 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Pope County Library System system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
178K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
42,990 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 11 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.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.73 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Russellville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.6M 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 38,020 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Russellville | Pope County Library System | — | 47 | A− |
| Pottsville | None of its own | — | — | B |
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. Pope County Library System serves 64,829 people in and around Russellville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Russellville.
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 Russellville
Does Russellville have a public library?
Yes. Pope County Library System, 116 East Third Street, serves 64,829 people in and around Russellville (the survey’s count) and is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Pope County 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 Russellville’s library?
It logged 2.0 visits and lent 2.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Russellville’s civic life grade?
A− Russellville is ahead of 77% of U.S. towns on civic life, #10 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 Russellville.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.