Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Alamosa’s library lends 8.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Alamosa Public Library serves Alamosa’s 9,885 residents. Last year it lent 100K books, movies and e-books and logged 64K visits.
The short version on Alamosa’s library
More library cards than residents
10,763 cards for 9,885 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Alamosa is a town of borrowers
Alamosa Public Library lends 8.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, more than 88% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 43% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 85% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 15 items per child in Alamosa last year. 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.
What’s behind Alamosa’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Alamosa is ahead of 74% of U.S. towns, #29 of 104 in Colorado. Alamosa’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
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 →
110 community nonprofits are registered in Alamosa
11.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (15 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.2%
5.2% of Alamosa’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.8% in the typical Colorado 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 Alamosa’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Alamosa Public Library serves 9,885 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 39 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
100K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 44K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2 times last year, on average.
13,140 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
About 5 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Alamosa last year.
Find it
Alamosa Public Library, 300 Hunt Avenue, Alamosa.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting.
New in Alamosa? 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 $2.99 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Alamosa cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $534K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $534K 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 10,763 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alamosa | Alamosa Public Library fine-free | 10.2 | 49 | B+ |
| Alamosa East | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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.
- 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 Alamosa
Does Alamosa have a public library?
Yes. Alamosa Public Library, 300 Hunt Avenue, serves Alamosa’s 9,885 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 49 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Alamosa Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Alamosa’s library?
It logged 6.5 visits and lent 10.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Alamosa’s civic life grade?
B+ Alamosa is ahead of 74% of U.S. towns on civic life, #29 of 104 in Colorado. The grade combines library visits per resident, community nonprofits per 1,000 residents and the share of adults 25–44 in volunteering groups. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Alamosa.
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.