Lordsburg-Hidalgo County Library · Photo: Ammodramus · CC0Lordsburg’s library runs 392 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Lordsburg-Hidalgo Library serves 2,335 people in and around Lordsburg. Last year it lent 20K books, movies and e-books and logged 7,706 visits.
Lordsburg’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
2,761 cards for 2,335 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 ↓
Seven times the programs of a typical library its size
Lordsburg-Hidalgo Library ran 915 programs last year, about 18 a week. That’s 392 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
The branch is a National Register landmark
Lordsburg-Hidalgo County Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2004. Today’s library there has 4,655 square feet. The building ↓
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; Lordsburg-Hidalgo Library serves 2,335 people in and around Lordsburg, 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 Lordsburg’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Lordsburg is ahead of 39% of U.S. towns. Lordsburg’s count of community nonprofits holds 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 →
14 community nonprofits are registered in Lordsburg
6.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (10 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
0.9%
0.9% of Lordsburg’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 Lordsburg’s residents live; 2022.
About 8 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Lordsburg-Hidalgo Library serves 2,335 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Lordsburg-Hidalgo Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
20K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
6,122 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
A National Register landmark since 2004
Lordsburg-Hidalgo Library, 208 East Third St., Lordsburg.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Lordsburg-Hidalgo Library branch.
New in Lordsburg? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Lordsburg-Hidalgo County Library
Lordsburg-Hidalgo County Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Feb 4, 2004. It is significant for its social history and architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Pueblo Revival. It was listed as part of New Deal in New Mexico MPS.
The Lordsburg-Hidalgo County Library is a public library located at 208 E. Third St. in Lordsburg, New Mexico. The Lordsburg Women's Club established Lordsburg's library in 1919; it originally operated out of spaces in other public buildings and houses. The Works Progress Administration built a permanent building for the library in 1936–37.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.47 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Lordsburg cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $132K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $327K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $132K 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 2,761 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Lordsburg-Hidalgo Library serves 2,335 people in and around Lordsburg, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Lordsburg.
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 Lordsburg
Does Lordsburg have a public library?
Yes. Lordsburg-Hidalgo Library, 208 East Third St., serves 2,335 people in and around Lordsburg (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lordsburg-Hidalgo 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 Lordsburg’s library?
It logged 3.3 visits and lent 8.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Lordsburg’s civic life grade?
C+ Lordsburg is ahead of 39% 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 Lordsburg.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.