Benton Stone Water Tower · Photo: Tgkrause · CC BY-SA 3.0Benton’s library runs 8.3 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Benton Public Library serves Benton’s 1,681 residents. Last year it lent 7,109 books, movies and e-books and logged 3,519 visits.
The short version on Benton’s library
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving under 2,500 people, Benton Public Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on four. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Benton Public Library serves 1,681 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 30 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Benton Public Library offered 14 programs last year, 8.3 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Benton’s civic life grade
Benton 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 →
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Benton Public Library serves 1,681 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
7,109 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 13K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
1,306 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
14 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Benton last year.
Find it
Benton Public Library, 48 W. Main St., Benton.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Benton? 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 $2.01 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Benton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $57K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $114K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $57K 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 394 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Benton
Does Benton have a public library?
Yes. Benton Public Library, 48 W. Main St., serves Benton’s 1,681 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 30 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Benton Public Library 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 Benton’s library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 4.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Benton’s civic life grade?
Benton 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 Benton.
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.