Photo: AllenS · Public domainEstancia’s library logs 44 visits per resident, the third-highest of 3,790 U.S. town libraries
Estancia Public Library serves Estancia’s 1,242 residents. Last year it lent 25K books, movies and e-books and logged 55K visits.
The short version on Estancia’s library
Most of Estancia’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 81% of loans, more per resident than at 99% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 19%. What people borrow ↓
More library cards than residents
1,678 cards for 1,242 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 ↓
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 99% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 50%. A year at the library ↓
Programs are almost all for children
96% of the 94 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 46 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Estancia invests in its library
Estancia Public Library spends $134 per resident a year, about twice the typical $54 for a library its size. Almost all of it (93%) comes from local taxes. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Estancia’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Estancia is ahead of 82% of U.S. towns. Library visits hold the grade up; Estancia’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Estancia Public Library logged 44.2 visits per resident in FY2024, #3 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 →
5 community nonprofits are registered in Estancia
3.4 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.3%
9.3% of Estancia’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 Estancia’s residents live; 2022.
81% of borrowing is digital
25K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 17K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
20,033 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 all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Estancia Public Library serves 1,242 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 13 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 2 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 Estancia last year.
Find it
Estancia Public Library, 600 South Tenth Street, Estancia.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Estancia? 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 $2.31 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Estancia cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $167K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $385K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $167K 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 1,678 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits count everyone. Estancia’s 54,950 visits include people from nearby towns and summer visitors; the survey has no resident share.
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 Estancia
Does Estancia have a public library?
Yes. Estancia Public Library, 600 South Tenth Street, serves Estancia’s 1,242 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 37 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Estancia 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 Estancia’s library?
It logged 44.2 visits and lent 20.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Its visits per resident rank #3 of the 3,790 town libraries we compare.
What is Estancia’s civic life grade?
A− Estancia is ahead of 82% 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 Estancia.
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.