Photo: Billy Hathorn at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Arcadia’s library runs 139 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Bienville Parish Library serves 12,412 people in and around Arcadia. Last year it lent 48K books, movies and e-books and logged 65K visits.
What Arcadia’s library is like
Six times the programs of a typical library its size
Bienville Parish Library ran 1,726 programs last year, about 33 a week. That’s 139 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24. People show up: 17,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Nearly everyone the system serves has a card
10,728 cards for 12,412 people, or 86%. At the typical library serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, it’s 40%. How it compares ↓
A well-funded system
Bienville Parish Library spends $123 per resident a year, about three times the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (91%) comes from local taxes. 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; Bienville Parish Library serves 12,412 people in and around Arcadia, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Arcadia’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Arcadia is ahead of 35% of U.S. towns, #43 of 105 in Louisiana. Arcadia is graded on two of the three inputs. Arcadia’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Among U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($19K–$31K) it does better, ahead of 68%.
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 →
15 community nonprofits are registered in Arcadia
5.7 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
3.6%
3.6% of Arcadia’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.9% in the typical Louisiana 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 Arcadia’s residents live; 2022.
About 7 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
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.
Bienville Parish Library serves 12,412 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Bienville Parish Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
48K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
11,792 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Bienville Parish Library, 2768 Maple Street, Arcadia.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Bienville Parish Library branch.
New in Arcadia? 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 Arcadia cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $931K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.5M 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 10,728 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Bienville Parish Library serves 12,412 people in and around Arcadia, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Arcadia.
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 Arcadia
Does Arcadia have a public library?
Yes. Bienville Parish Library, 2768 Maple Street, serves 12,412 people in and around Arcadia (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bienville Parish 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 Arcadia’s library?
It logged 5.2 visits and lent 3.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Arcadia’s civic life grade?
C Arcadia is ahead of 35% of U.S. towns on civic life, #43 of 105 in Louisiana. 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 Arcadia.
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.