Photo: AllenS · Public domainLos Lunas’ library lends 2.4 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Los Lunas Public Library serves Los Lunas’s 17,242 residents from 2 locations. Last year it lent 280K books, movies and e-books and logged 52K visits.
Los Lunas’s library, in brief
Most of Los Lunas’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 85% of loans, more per resident than at 99% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 15%. What people borrow ↓
More library cards than residents
18,623 cards for 17,242 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, it’s 40%. How it compares ↓
A place to get online
Los Lunas Public Library logs about 594 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 30 public computers. That’s 13 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
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.
What’s behind Los Lunas’ civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Los Lunas is ahead of 12% of U.S. towns, #33 of 46 in New Mexico. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; library visits come closest to the middle.
Los Lunas’ 2024 visits are an estimate from one typical week (the survey’s method for libraries that don’t count every visit).
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($47K–$78K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
28 community nonprofits are registered in Los Lunas
1.5 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.
4.8%
4.8% of Los Lunas’ 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 Los Lunas’ residents live; 2022.
85% of borrowing is digital
280K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 44K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
238,585 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 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Los Lunas Public Library serves 17,242 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 60 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 Los Lunas last year.
2 places to borrow in Los Lunas
Los Lunas Public Library, 460 Main St. NE, Los Lunas.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Los Lunas? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Los Lunas
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.30 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Los Lunas cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.5M 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 18,623 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Lunas | Los Lunas Public Library | 16.2 | 54 | D |
| Valencia | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| El Cerro | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Peralta | None of its own | — | — | — too few inputs |
| Los Chaves | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Los Lunas Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Los Lunas
Does Los Lunas have a public library?
Yes. Los Lunas Public Library, 460 Main St. NE, serves Los Lunas’ 17,242 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Los Lunas 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 Los Lunas’ library?
It logged 3.0 visits and lent 16.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Los Lunas’ civic life grade?
D Los Lunas is ahead of 12% of U.S. towns on civic life, #33 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 Los Lunas.
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.