Photo: Todd Johnson · CC BY-SA 4.0White Hall’s library is a branch of Pine Bluff/Jefferson County Library System, which lends less per resident than 83% of systems its size
White Hall’s library is the Cara Matheny Economos/White Hall Public Library, a branch of Pine Bluff/Jefferson County Library System, which serves 63,672 people and lent 110K items last year.
What stands out about Cara Matheny Economos/White Hall Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind White Hall’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, White Hall is ahead of 26% of U.S. towns, #82 of 114 in Arkansas. White Hall is graded on two of the three inputs. White Hall’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($59K–$98K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
22 community nonprofits are registered in White Hall
4.1 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
4.8%
4.8% of White Hall’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 White Hall’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Pine Bluff/Jefferson County Library System serves 63,672 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Pine Bluff/Jefferson County Library System system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
110K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
27,504 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
What kids borrow
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Find it
Cara Matheny Economos/White Hall Public Library, 300 Anderson Street, White Hall.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Pine Bluff/Jefferson County Library System branch.
New in White Hall? 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 White Hall cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.8M 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 24,985 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| White Hall | Cara Matheny Economos/White Hall Public Library | — | 45 | C |
| Pine Bluff | Pine Bluff Jefferson County Library System | — | 45 | 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.
- System-wide. Cara Matheny Economos/White Hall Public Library is one branch of Pine Bluff/Jefferson County Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 63,672 people it serves.
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 White Hall
Does White Hall have a public library?
Yes: Cara Matheny Economos/White Hall Public Library, 300 Anderson Street, is a branch of Pine Bluff/Jefferson County Library System, which serves 63,672 people. The branch is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Pine Bluff/Jefferson 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 White Hall’s library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 1.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is White Hall’s civic life grade?
C White Hall is ahead of 26% of U.S. towns on civic life, #82 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 White Hall.
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.