Photo: DrunkDriver · CC BY-SA 3.0South Fork’s library is a branch of Rio Grande County Library District, which lends less per resident than 70% of systems its size
South Fork’s library is the Carnegie Library South Fork Branch, a branch of Rio Grande County Library District, which serves 11,210 people and lent 33K items last year.
What stands out about Carnegie Library South Fork Branch
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind South Fork’s civic life grade
South Fork isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
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.
Find it
Carnegie Library South Fork Branch, 0031 Mall Street, South Fork.
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 South Fork? 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 $1.64 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average South Fork 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. Carnegie Library South Fork Branch 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 South Fork
Does South Fork have a public library?
Yes: Carnegie Library South Fork Branch, 0031 Mall Street, is a branch of Rio Grande County Library District, which serves 11,210 people. The branch is open about 34 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 South Fork’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 South Fork’s civic life grade?
South Fork isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in South Fork.
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.