Photo: Jeffrey Beall · CC BY-SA 3.0Monte Vista’s library is a branch of Rio Grande County Library District, which lends less per resident than 70% of systems its size
Monte Vista’s library is the Monte Vista Library, a branch of Rio Grande County Library District, which serves 11,210 people and lent 33K items last year.
The short version on Monte Vista’s library
More library cards than residents
13,272 cards for 11,210 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, it’s 40%. How it compares ↓
The branch is a National Register landmark
Carnegie Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1995. Today’s library there has 10,116 square feet. The building ↓
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; Monte Vista’s library is a branch of Rio Grande County Library District, so they cover the whole system (11,210 people), not just the Monte Vista branch.
What’s behind Monte Vista’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Monte Vista is ahead of 65% of U.S. towns, #43 of 104 in Colorado. Monte Vista is graded on two of the three inputs. Monte Vista’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 →
49 community nonprofits are registered in Monte Vista
11.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (10 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.6%
5.6% of Monte Vista’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 Monte Vista’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Rio Grande County Library District serves 11,210 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Rio Grande County Library District system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
33K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
6,252 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
About 1 kids’ program 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.
A National Register landmark since 1995
Monte Vista Library, 120 Jefferson Street, Monte Vista.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Good at every Rio Grande County Library District branch.
New in Monte Vista? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Carnegie Library
Carnegie Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Apr 14, 1995. It is significant for its social history and town planning at the local level. Its architecture is described as Classical Revival.
The Carnegie Public Library, Monte Vista Branch, located at 120 Jefferson St. in Monte Vista, Colorado, is a small library opened in 1919. The building was designed by leading Denver architect John J. Huddart in the Classical Revival style. In 1995, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The Monte Vista Branch is one of two remaining original branches of the Carnegie Public Library.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.64 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Monte Vista cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $336K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $552K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $336K 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 13,272 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Monte Vista Library is one branch of Rio Grande County Library District, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 11,210 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 Monte Vista
Does Monte Vista have a public library?
Yes: Monte Vista Library, 120 Jefferson Street, is a branch of Rio Grande County Library District, which serves 11,210 people. The branch is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Rio Grande County Library District 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 Monte Vista’s library?
It logged 2.5 visits and lent 3.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Monte Vista’s civic life grade?
B Monte Vista is ahead of 65% of U.S. towns on civic life, #43 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 Monte Vista.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.