North Little Rock Public Library System
North Little Rock Public Library System is a municipal public library system based in North Little Rock (Pulaski County), Arkansas, serving a legal service area of 66,810 residents through two library buildings and one bookmobile. Among profiled systems in Arkansas, it ranks first for visits per resident, first for the electronic share of checkouts and second for total visits and records the largest gain in visits since FY 2019.
By population served it is the 16th-largest of the 47 profiled systems in Arkansas. Against the median system of its size class, it records only 25% of the physical checkouts per resident and 2.2 times the public computers per resident.
North Little Rock against the 559 systems of its size class
North Little Rock since FY 2019
Visits were 62% above the FY 2019 count of 385,159 (size-class median: −29%). Physical checkouts moved 59% down over the same span.
- Visits
- Physical checkouts
Nearest in size within Arkansas
- Texarkana Public Library · Texarkana · 68,716 residents
- Pope County Library System · Russellville · 64,829 residents
- Mississippi/Crittenden Regional Library · Blytheville · 64,204 residents
- Pine Bluff/Jefferson County Library System · Pine Bluff · 63,672 residents
North Little Rock in numbers, FY 2024
- Visits
- 623,038
- Physical checkouts
- 56,844
- …of children's materials
- 38,652
- Electronic checkouts
- 177,434
- …of e-books
- 86,925
- …of e-audio
- 67,935
- Registered users
- 85,702
- Print volumes
- 82,581
- Audio items (physical)
- 6,629
- Video items (physical)
- 13,585
- Public computers
- 85
- Public service hours, all outlets
- 6,632
- Paid staff (full-time equivalent)
- 50.0
- Operating spending
- $4.8 million
- …on books and other materials
- $215,091
- Overdue fines on print items
- not charged
Where North Little Rock gets its operating money
Operating revenue came to $5.1 million, or $76.32 per resident. The local-government share is close to the combined share for the 47 profiled systems in Arkansas. No federal operating revenue was reported.
- Local government
- State
- Federal
- Other (fines, fees, gifts, grants)
North Little Rock, building by building
The two buildings cover 20,000 square feet in total, 0.30 square feet per resident against a median of 0.62 for the size class. The largest building is Argenta Branch at 15,000 square feet; the smallest is North Little Rock Public Library-William F. Laman Public L at 5,000. The longest hours are at North Little Rock Public Library-William F. Laman Public L, 45.8 a week.
| Building | Type | Town | Hours a week | Floor area, sq ft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Little Rock Public Library-William F. Laman Public L | Central library | North Little Rock | 45.8 | 5,000 |
| Argenta Branch | Branch | North Little Rock | 42.8 | 15,000 |
| North Little Rock Rover Bookmobile | Bookmobile | North Little Rock | 38.8 |
Municipal libraries of similar size in other states
None of these six systems records more visits per resident than this one. The highest checkout rate in the group belongs to Novi Public Library in Michigan.
| System | Based in | Residents | Visits per resident | Checkouts per resident | Spending per resident |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Haverhill Public Library | Haverhill, MA | 67,153 | 2.64 | 2.96 | $37.90 |
| Middletown Township Public Library | Middletown, NJ | 67,106 | 2.03 | 5.95 | $66.49 |
| Old Bridge Public Library | Old Bridge, NJ | 66,876 | 3.31 | 2.87 | $49.22 |
| Rowlett Public Library | Rowlett, TX | 66,813 | 1.96 | 2.51 | $19.80 |
| Weatherford Public Library | Weatherford, TX | 66,790 | 1.16 | 4.64 | $16.23 |
| Novi Public Library | Novi, MI | 66,403 | 5.88 | 10.18 | $57.32 |