Belen Hotel · Photo: AzaniahT · CC BY-SA 3.0Belen’s library runs 117 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Belen Public Library serves Belen’s 7,360 residents from 2 locations. Last year it lent 51K books, movies and e-books and logged 53K visits.
Belen’s library, in brief
Belen ranks 3rd in New Mexico for library use
Out of 36 New Mexico towns with a library of their own, Belen comes 3rd for visits per resident. How it compares ↓
More library cards than residents
7,842 cards for 7,360 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Belen Public Library ran 861 programs last year, about 17 a week. That’s 117 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. People show up: 11,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Belen invests in its library
Belen Public Library spends $112 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. What your card is worth ↓
Federal money pays a real share
5% of the budget comes from federal grants, and 72% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. 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 Belen’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Belen is ahead of 39% of U.S. towns, #17 of 46 in New Mexico. Library visits hold 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 →
21 community nonprofits are registered in Belen
2.8 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 (8 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.0%
5.0% of Belen’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 Belen’s residents live; 2022.
About 4 kids’ programs 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 Belen last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Belen Public Library serves 7,360 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 17 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
51K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 44K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1 time last year, on average.
7,922 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
2 places to borrow in Belen
Belen Public Library, 333 Becker Avenue, Belen.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Belen? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Belen
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.14 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Belen cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $823K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $936K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $823K 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 7,842 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belen | Belen Public Library fine-free | 7.0 | 40 | C+ |
| Sausal | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Los Chaves | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Jarales | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Pueblitos | 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.
- 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 Belen
Does Belen have a public library?
Yes. Belen Public Library, 333 Becker Avenue, serves Belen’s 7,360 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Belen 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 Belen’s library?
It logged 7.2 visits and lent 7.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Belen’s civic life grade?
C+ Belen is ahead of 39% of U.S. towns on civic life, #17 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 Belen.
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.