Photo: Hot Springs Tourism & Welcome Center · CC BY-SA 4.0Hot Springs’ library is a branch of Madison County Public Library, which lends more per resident than 58% of systems its size
Hot Springs’s library is the Hot Springs Branch Library, a branch of Madison County Public Library, which serves 21,753 people and lent 131K items last year.
What stands out about Hot Springs Branch Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Hot Springs’ civic life grade
Hot Springs isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Madison County Public Library serves 21,753 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 18 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Madison County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
131K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
29,873 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 9 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
Hot Springs Branch Library, 170 Bridge St., Hot 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. Good at every Madison County Public Library branch.
New in Hot 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 $3.59 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Hot Springs cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $632K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $632K 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 8,793 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Hot Springs Branch Library is one branch of Madison County Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 21,753 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 Hot Springs
Does Hot Springs have a public library?
Yes: Hot Springs Branch Library, 170 Bridge St., is a branch of Madison County Public Library, which serves 21,753 people. The branch is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Madison County 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 Hot Springs’ library?
It logged 4.6 visits and lent 6.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Hot Springs’ civic life grade?
Hot Springs isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Hot 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.