Photo: Billy Hathorn · CC BY-SA 3.0Rocky Ford Public Library serves Rocky Ford’s 3,819 residents
Rocky Ford Public Library serves Rocky Ford’s 3,819 residents.
What stands out about Rocky Ford’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Rocky Ford’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Rocky Ford is ahead of 50% of U.S. towns, #54 of 104 in Colorado. Its library’s 2024 visits weren’t reported, so Rocky Ford is graded on two of the three inputs. Rocky Ford’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
The survey’s stand-in for Rocky Ford’s 2024 visits carries forward a 2021 figure, so it is left out.
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 →
30 community nonprofits are registered in Rocky Ford
7.9 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 (14 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.6%
4.6% of Rocky Ford’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 Rocky Ford’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1995
Rocky Ford Public Library, 400 South 10th Street, Rocky Ford.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Carnegie Public Library
Carnegie Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Nov 7, 1995. It is significant for its social history and architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Classical Revival.
The Carnegie Public Library in Rocky Ford, Colorado is a Carnegie library built in 1908. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995. It was designed by La Junta, Colorado architect Walter Dubree in Classical Revival style. It was the first building in Rocky Ford of that style.
More about the building →A year at Rocky Ford Public Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: visits and print loans. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Rocky Ford resident borrows (the library didn’t report its card count for 2024).
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 resident’s month = the library’s yearly loans and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ the 3,819 people it serves ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Not reported for 2024: visits. Rocky Ford Public Library didn’t report visits; the survey’s estimate carries forward its 2021 figure, so we leave it out and never rank it.
- Not reported for 2024: print loans. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
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 Rocky Ford
Does Rocky Ford have a public library?
Yes. Rocky Ford Public Library, 400 South 10th Street, serves Rocky Ford’s 3,819 residents (the survey’s count).
Is Rocky Ford Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Rocky Ford’s library?
It lent 0.0 items per resident in 2024 (print). Visits weren’t reported for 2024.
What is Rocky Ford’s civic life grade?
B− Rocky Ford is ahead of 50% of U.S. towns on civic life, #54 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 Rocky Ford.
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.