Photo: AllenS · Public domainAztec’s library logs 4.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Aztec Public Library serves Aztec’s 6,201 residents. Last year it lent 52K books, movies and e-books and logged 28K visits.
The short version on Aztec’s library
Most of Aztec’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 54% of loans, more per resident than at 95% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 46%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Aztec Public Library offered 30 programs last year, 4.8 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. 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.
What’s behind Aztec’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Aztec is ahead of 70% of U.S. towns, #7 of 46 in New Mexico. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Aztec’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
22 community nonprofits are registered in Aztec
3.5 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 (8 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.8%
9.8% of Aztec’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 Aztec’s residents live; 2022.
54% of borrowing is digital
52K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 28K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
28,158 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Aztec Public Library serves 6,201 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 24 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
30 programs a year
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 Aztec last year.
Find it
Aztec Public Library, 319 S. Ash, Aztec.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Aztec? 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 $1.94 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Aztec cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $411K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $797K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $411K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 3,086 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aztec | Aztec Public Library | 8.4 | 43 | B+ |
| Bloomfield | Bloomfield Public Library fine-free | 1.5 | 35 | C+ |
| Center Point | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| South River | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Spencerville | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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 Aztec
Does Aztec have a public library?
Yes. Aztec Public Library, 319 S. Ash, serves Aztec’s 6,201 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Aztec Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Aztec’s library?
It logged 4.5 visits and lent 8.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Aztec’s civic life grade?
B+ Aztec is ahead of 70% of U.S. towns on civic life, #7 of 46 in New Mexico. 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 Aztec.
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.