Jal’s library logs 8.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Woolworth Community Library serves 2,202 people in and around Jal. Last year it lent 13K books, movies and e-books and logged 19K visits.
Jal’s library, in brief
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
99% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 0%. What your card is worth ↓
More library cards than residents
2,885 cards for 2,202 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 than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 91% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 90% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
A well-funded system
Woolworth Community Library spends $345 per resident a year, about six times the typical $54 for a library its size. What your card is worth ↓
Most programs are for young children
71% of the 107 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 37 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; Woolworth Community Library serves 2,202 people in and around Jal, and its numbers cover all of them; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Jal’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Jal is ahead of 41% of U.S. towns. 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 →
7 community nonprofits are registered in Jal
3.0 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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
4.6%
4.6% of Jal’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 Jal’s residents live; 2022.
About 1 kids’ program 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Woolworth Community Library serves 2,202 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Woolworth Community Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
13K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
248 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Woolworth Community Library, 100 E Utah St., Jal.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Woolworth Community Library branch.
New in Jal? 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 Jal cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $761K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $188K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $761K 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 2,885 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Woolworth Community Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- System-wide. Woolworth Community Library serves 2,202 people in and around Jal, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Jal.
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 Jal
Does Jal have a public library?
Yes. Woolworth Community Library, 100 E Utah St., serves 2,202 people in and around Jal (the survey’s count) and is open about 53 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Woolworth Community 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 Jal’s library?
It logged 8.5 visits and lent 6.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Jal’s civic life grade?
C+ Jal is ahead of 41% 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 Jal.
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.