Photo: Zhidoni · CC BY-SA 3.0Eldorado at Santa Fe’s library logs 4.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Vista Grande Public Library serves 6,005 people in and around Eldorado at Santa Fe. Last year it lent 38K books, movies and e-books and logged 29K visits.
The short version on Eldorado at Santa Fe’s library
Busy on a lean budget
Vista Grande Public Library spends $27 per resident, less than 75% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). It’s still busier than 71% of them. What your card is worth ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
37% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 21%. 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; Vista Grande Public Library serves 6,005 people in and around Eldorado at Santa Fe, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Eldorado at Santa Fe’s civic life grade
On library visits and volunteering, Eldorado at Santa Fe is ahead of 69% of U.S. towns, #8 of 46 in New Mexico. Eldorado at Santa Fe is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank highest.
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 →
Volunteering in Eldorado at Santa Fe
Eldorado at Santa Fe is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
7.8%
7.8% of Eldorado at Santa Fe’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 Eldorado at Santa Fe’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Vista Grande Public Library serves 6,005 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 20 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Vista Grande Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
38K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
5,766 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Find it
Vista Grande Public Library, 14 Avenida Torreon, Santa Fe.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Vista Grande Public Library branch.
New in Eldorado at Santa Fe? 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 $3.95 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Eldorado at Santa Fe cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $161K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $634K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $161K 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 2,890 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Vista Grande Public Library serves 6,005 people in and around Eldorado at Santa Fe, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Eldorado at Santa Fe.
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 Eldorado at Santa Fe
Does Eldorado at Santa Fe have a public library?
Yes. Vista Grande Public Library, 14 Avenida Torreon, serves 6,005 people in and around Eldorado at Santa Fe (the survey’s count) and is open about 37 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Vista Grande 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 Eldorado at Santa Fe’s library?
It logged 4.8 visits and lent 6.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Eldorado at Santa Fe’s civic life grade?
B+ Eldorado at Santa Fe is ahead of 69% of U.S. towns on civic life, #8 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 Eldorado at Santa Fe.
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.