Pilgrim Holiness Church · Photo: Ammodramus · Public domainArthur’s library logs 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Arthur County Library serves 412 people in and around Arthur. Last year it lent 2,358 books, movies and e-books and logged 500 visits.
The short version on Arthur’s library
Most of the library’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 51% of loans, more per resident than at 86% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 49%. What people borrow ↓
More library cards than residents
413 cards for 412 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Arthur County Library offered 4 programs last year, 9.7 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
Fewer visits than most libraries its size
Arthur County Library records 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, below 88% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing holds up better, at 2.8 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
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; Arthur County Library serves 412 people in and around Arthur, and its numbers cover all of them; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Arthur’s civic life grade
Arthur 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 →
51% of borrowing is digital
2,358 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
1,205 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Arthur County Library serves 412 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 1 item goes out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Arthur County Library system. The library’s own count.
4 programs a year
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
Arthur County Library, 205 Fir Street, Arthur.
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 Arthur County Library branch.
New in Arthur? 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 $2.97 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Arthur cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $12K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $36K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $12K 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 413 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Arthur County Library serves 412 people in and around Arthur, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Arthur.
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 Arthur
Does Arthur have a public library?
Yes. Arthur County Library, 205 Fir Street, serves 412 people in and around Arthur (the survey’s count) and is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Arthur County 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 Arthur’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 5.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Arthur’s civic life grade?
Arthur 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 Arthur.
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.