Prairie Grove Public Library
Prairie Grove’s library is the Prairie Grove Public Library, a branch of Washington County Library System, which serves 159,869 people and lent 1M items last year.
What stands out about Prairie Grove Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
Find it
Prairie Grove Public Library, 881 West Buchanan Street, Prairie Grove.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Washington County Library System branch.
New in Prairie Grove? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Every hour the doors are open, about 55 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Washington County Library System system. The library’s own count.
Close to typical for its size
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S. A tiny town’s library always looks busier per person, so it’s only compared with its own size.
Washington County Library System serves 159,869 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
1M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
280,511 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
What kids borrow
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.26 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Prairie Grove cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $4.7M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $15M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.7M 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 33,675 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prairie Grove | Prairie Grove Public Library | — | 31 |
| Farmington | Farmington Public Library | — | 46 |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report.
About these numbers
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Hours are an average. The survey reports a building’s public hours for the whole year. We divide by the weeks it was open, so check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
- Compared by size. “Similar-size” means libraries serving about as many people, nationwide. Per-resident numbers always flatter the smallest towns, so they’re never compared with big cities.
- 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.
- System-wide. Prairie Grove Public Library is one branch of Washington County Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 159,869 people it serves.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Prairie Grove.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
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.