Photo: StuttgartChamber · CC BY-SA 3.0Stuttgart’s library lends 0.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Arkansas County Library serves 16,050 people in and around Stuttgart. Last year it lent 17K books, movies and e-books and logged 21K visits.
What’s behind Stuttgart’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Stuttgart is ahead of 61% of U.S. towns, #31 of 114 in Arkansas. Stuttgart is graded on two of the three inputs. Stuttgart’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 Stuttgart
6.5 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 (17 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.
6.3%
6.3% of Stuttgart’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 Stuttgart’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Arkansas County Library serves 16,050 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Arkansas County Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
17K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
4,141 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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.
Find it
Arkansas County Library, 2002 S. Buerkle Street, Stuttgart.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Arkansas County Library branch.
New in Stuttgart? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Stuttgart cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $301K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $292K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $301K 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 8,401 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Arkansas County Library serves 16,050 people in and around Stuttgart, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Stuttgart.
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 Stuttgart
Does Stuttgart have a public library?
Yes. Arkansas County Library, 2002 S. Buerkle Street, serves 16,050 people in and around Stuttgart (the survey’s count) and is open about 39 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Arkansas County 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 Stuttgart’s library?
It logged 1.3 visits and lent 1.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Stuttgart’s civic life grade?
B Stuttgart is ahead of 61% of U.S. towns on civic life, #31 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 Stuttgart.
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.