Photo: Brandonrush · CC BY-SA 4.0Siloam Springs’ library logs 8.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Siloam Springs Public Library serves Siloam Springs’s 17,101 residents. Last year it lent 88K books, movies and e-books and logged 145K visits.
The short version on Siloam Springs’s library
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 94% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 49%. The building also logs about 10 Wi-Fi sessions a day. A year at the library ↓
Nearly everyone in Siloam Springs has a card
14,501 cards for 17,101 people, or 85%. At the typical library serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, it’s 40%. How it compares ↓
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 Siloam Springs’ civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Siloam Springs is ahead of 51% of U.S. towns, #44 of 114 in Arkansas. Library visits hold the grade up; Siloam Springs’ 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 →
51 community nonprofits are registered in Siloam Springs
2.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (29 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.
6.5%
6.5% of Siloam Springs’ 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 Siloam Springs’ residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Siloam Springs Public Library serves 17,101 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 32 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
88K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 56K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.2 time last year, on average.
21,970 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Siloam Springs last year.
Find it
Siloam Springs Public Library, 205 East Jefferson St., Siloam Springs.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Siloam Springs? 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 $2.27 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Siloam Springs cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $588K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $588K 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 14,501 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Siloam Springs | Siloam Springs Public Library fine-free | 5.1 | 53 | B− |
| West Siloam Springs | None of its own | — | — | C− |
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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Siloam Springs Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Siloam Springs
Does Siloam Springs have a public library?
Yes. Siloam Springs Public Library, 205 East Jefferson St., serves Siloam Springs’ 17,101 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 53 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Siloam Springs Public 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 Siloam Springs’ library?
It logged 8.5 visits and lent 5.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Siloam Springs’ civic life grade?
B− Siloam Springs is ahead of 51% of U.S. towns on civic life, #44 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 Siloam Springs.
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.