Photo: Billy Hathorn · CC BY-SA 3.0Jonesboro’s library runs 31 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Jackson Parish Library serves 14,797 people in and around Jonesboro. Last year it lent 60K books, movies and e-books and logged 56K visits.
The short version on Jonesboro’s library
Nearly everyone the system serves has a card
12,990 cards for 14,797 people, or 88%. At the typical library serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, it’s 40%. How it compares ↓
A well-funded system
Jackson Parish Library spends $87 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (93%) 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; Jackson Parish Library serves 14,797 people in and around Jonesboro, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Jonesboro’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Jonesboro is ahead of 7% of U.S. towns, #91 of 105 in Louisiana. Jonesboro is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Jonesboro’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($31K–$52K) 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 →
9 community nonprofits are registered in Jonesboro
2.3 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 (8 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.
4.6%
4.6% of Jonesboro’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 Jonesboro’s 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.
Jackson Parish Library serves 14,797 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Jackson Parish Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
60K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
14,265 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 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
Jackson Parish Library, 614 South Polk Avenue, Jonesboro.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Jackson Parish Library branch.
New in Jonesboro? 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 Jonesboro cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.3M 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 12,990 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Jackson Parish Library serves 14,797 people in and around Jonesboro, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Jonesboro.
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 Jonesboro
Does Jonesboro have a public library?
Yes. Jackson Parish Library, 614 South Polk Avenue, serves 14,797 people in and around Jonesboro (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Jackson 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 Jonesboro’s library?
It logged 3.8 visits and lent 4.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Jonesboro’s civic life grade?
D Jonesboro is ahead of 7% of U.S. towns on civic life, #91 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 Jonesboro.
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.