Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Trinidad’s library runs 9.3 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Trinidad Carnegie Public Library serves 13,920 people in and around Trinidad. Last year it lent 45K books, movies and e-books and logged 33K visits.
The short version on Trinidad’s library
The branch is a National Register landmark
Carnegie Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1995. Today’s library there has 6,000 square feet. The building ↓
41% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 41% of loans. Print still makes up 59%. What people borrow ↓
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; Trinidad Carnegie Public Library serves 13,920 people in and around Trinidad, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Trinidad’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Trinidad is ahead of 67% of U.S. towns, #36 of 104 in Colorado. Trinidad is graded on two of the three inputs. Trinidad’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 →
84 community nonprofits are registered in Trinidad
10.1 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 (17 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.
6.0%
6.0% of Trinidad’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 Trinidad’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1995
Trinidad Carnegie Public Library, 202 North Animas Street, Trinidad.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Trinidad Carnegie Public Library branch.
New in Trinidad? The Handbook →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 Apr 14, 1995. It is significant for its social history and architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Classical Revival.
More about the building →Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Trinidad Carnegie Public Library serves 13,920 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 19 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Trinidad Carnegie Public Library system. The library’s own count.
41% of borrowing is digital
45K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
18,331 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.03 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Trinidad cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $364K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $738K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $364K 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 6,757 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trinidad | Trinidad Carnegie Public Library fine-free | — | 46 | B+ |
| El Moro | 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.
- System-wide. Trinidad Carnegie Public Library serves 13,920 people in and around Trinidad, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Trinidad.
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 Trinidad
Does Trinidad have a public library?
Yes. Trinidad Carnegie Public Library, 202 North Animas Street, serves 13,920 people in and around Trinidad (the survey’s count) and is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Trinidad Carnegie Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Trinidad’s library?
It logged 2.4 visits and lent 3.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Trinidad’s civic life grade?
B+ Trinidad is ahead of 67% of U.S. towns on civic life, #36 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 Trinidad.
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.