Photo: Cbaer at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Carrizozo’s library logs 4.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Carrizozo Community Public Library serves Carrizozo’s 972 residents. Last year it lent 1,407 books, movies and e-books and logged 4,390 visits.
Carrizozo’s library, in brief
New Mexico pays a big share
78% of the budget comes from the state, and 15% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
A small-town library
Carrizozo Community Public Library serves 972 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 24 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Most programs are for young children
72% of the 79 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 Carrizozo’s civic life grade
Carrizozo isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Carrizozo Community Public Library serves 972 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 1 item goes out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
1,407 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 11K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
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 Carrizozo last year.
Find it
Carrizozo Community Public Library, 406 Central Ave, Carrizozo.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Carrizozo? 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 Carrizozo cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $63K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $40K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $63K 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 434 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Carrizozo
Does Carrizozo have a public library?
Yes. Carrizozo Community Public Library, 406 Central Ave, serves Carrizozo’s 972 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 24 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Carrizozo Community 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 Carrizozo’s library?
It logged 4.5 visits and lent 1.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Carrizozo’s civic life grade?
Carrizozo isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Carrizozo.
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.