Photo: Davishan99 · CC BY-SA 3.0Angel Fire’s library logs 16 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Shuter Library of Angel Fire serves Angel Fire’s 1,192 residents. Last year it lent 6,637 books, movies and e-books and logged 19K visits.
What Angel Fire’s library is like
More library cards than residents
3,585 cards for 1,192 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
85% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 0%. What your card is worth ↓
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 96% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 31%. A year at the library ↓
Most of Angel Fire’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 56% of loans, more per resident than at 87% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 44%. What people borrow ↓
Programs are almost all for children
80% of the 96 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 41 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Angel Fire’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Angel Fire is among the top 1% of U.S. towns. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Angel Fire’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
Shuter Library of Angel Fire logged 15.6 visits per resident in FY2024, #60 of the 3,790 town libraries we compare. The survey counts every visit, residents or not, and libraries don’t report how many come from out of town.
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 →
17 community nonprofits are registered in Angel Fire
15.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: arts & culture.
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 (9 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.
10.8%
10.8% of Angel Fire’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.2% in the typical New Mexico 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 Angel Fire’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Shuter Library of Angel Fire serves 1,192 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
56% of borrowing is digital
6,637 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 16K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
3,698 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Angel Fire last year.
Find it
Shuter Library of Angel Fire, 11 South Angel Fire Road, Angel Fire.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Angel Fire? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Angel Fire cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $119K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $111K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $119K 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 3,585 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits count everyone. Angel Fire’s 18,600 visits include people from nearby towns and summer visitors; the survey has no resident share.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Shuter Library of Angel Fire counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Angel Fire
Does Angel Fire have a public library?
Yes. Shuter Library of Angel Fire, 11 South Angel Fire Road, serves Angel Fire’s 1,192 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 32 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Shuter Library of Angel Fire 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 Angel Fire’s library?
It logged 15.6 visits and lent 5.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Angel Fire’s civic life grade?
A+ Angel Fire is among the top 1% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Angel Fire.
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.