Mexico’s library logs 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Mexico Free Public Library serves Mexico’s 2,798 residents. Last year it lent 2,482 books, movies and e-books and logged 2,348 visits.
The short version on Mexico’s library
Mexico Free Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Mexico Free Public Library records 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 0.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $13 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Mexico Free Public Library offered 22 programs last year, 7.9 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 66% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 82% of similar-size libraries, so the high share mostly reflects light borrowing by adults. What people borrow ↓
Runs on less money than most
Mexico Free Public Library spends $13 per resident, less than 93% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). What your card is worth ↓
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 Mexico’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Mexico is ahead of 36% of U.S. towns, #113 of 143 in Maine. Mexico’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($42K–$70K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
13 community nonprofits are registered in Mexico
4.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.0%
8.0% of Mexico’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 9.0% in the typical Maine 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 Mexico’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Mexico Free Public Library serves 2,798 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
2,482 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 17K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
287 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
22 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Mexico last year.
Find it
Mexico Free Public Library, 15 Recreation Drive, Mexico.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Mexico? 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 $1.05 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mexico cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $36K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $38K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $36K 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 1,358 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.
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 Mexico
Does Mexico have a public library?
Yes. Mexico Free Public Library, 15 Recreation Drive, serves Mexico’s 2,798 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 23 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mexico Free 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 Mexico’s library?
It logged 0.8 visits and lent 0.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Mexico’s civic life grade?
C+ Mexico is ahead of 36% of U.S. towns on civic life, #113 of 143 in Maine. 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 Mexico.
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.