Photo: Elnogalense · CC BY-SA 4.0Rio Rico’s library is a branch of Nogales/Santa Cruz County Public Library, which lends less per resident than 84% of systems its size
Rio Rico’s library is the Rio Rico Library, a branch of Nogales/Santa Cruz County Public Library, which serves 50,580 people and lent 63K items last year.
What Rio Rico’s library is like
The Nogales/Santa Cruz County Public Library system is used less than most libraries its size
The Nogales/Santa Cruz County Public Library system records 0.7 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 1.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. It also spends less than most: $9 per resident, against a typical $40. How it compares ↓
Programs are almost all for children
98% of the 4,388 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 37 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Six times the programs of a typical library its size
The Nogales/Santa Cruz County Public Library system ran 4,388 programs last year, about 84 a week. That’s 87 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
The Nogales/Santa Cruz County Public Library system spends $9 per resident, less than 97% of similar-size libraries (typical: $40). What your card is worth ↓
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; Rio Rico’s library is a branch of Nogales/Santa Cruz County Public Library, so they cover the whole system (50,580 people), not just the Rio Rico branch.
What’s behind Rio Rico’s civic life grade
Rio Rico isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Nogales/Santa Cruz County Public Library, so there is no town figure for visits.
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 →
Volunteering in Rio Rico
Rio Rico is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
1.8%
1.8% of Rio Rico’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.0% in the typical Arizona town and 7.5% nationally.
Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. ZIP-code figures, weighted by where Rio Rico’s residents live; 2022.
About 82 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Nogales/Santa Cruz County Public Library serves 50,580 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Nogales/Santa Cruz County Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: books & media on the shelves. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Books and media off the shelf
63K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Rio Rico’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
Find it
Rio Rico Library, 275 Rio Rico Dr, Rio Rico.
Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Nogales/Santa Cruz County Public Library branch.
New in Rio Rico? 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 $2.65 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Rio Rico cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $439K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $439K budget.
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 26,546 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 | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rio Rico | Rio Rico Library | — | 39 | — unincorporated |
| Tumacacori-Carmen | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Not reported for 2024: books & media on the shelves. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. Rio Rico Library is one branch of Nogales/Santa Cruz County Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 50,580 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 Rio Rico
Does Rio Rico have a public library?
Yes: Rio Rico Library, 275 Rio Rico Dr, is a branch of Nogales/Santa Cruz County Public Library, which serves 50,580 people. The branch is open about 39 hours a week, averaged over the year.
How busy is Rio Rico’s library?
It logged 0.7 visits and lent 1.3 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Rio Rico’s civic life grade?
Rio Rico isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Nogales/Santa Cruz County Public Library, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Rio Rico.
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.