St. Joseph Apache Mission Church · Photo: Bozotexino · CC BY 3.0Mescalero’s library logs 0.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Mescalero Community Library serves 4,204 people in and around Mescalero. Last year it logged 905 visits.
Mescalero’s library, in brief
Nearly everyone the system serves has a card
3,889 cards for 4,204 people, or 93%. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
New Mexico pays a big share
29% of the budget comes from the state, and 71% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. 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; Mescalero Community Library serves 4,204 people in and around Mescalero, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Mescalero’s civic life grade
Mescalero isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 5 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Mescalero Community Library serves 4,204 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
A year at Mescalero Community Library
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Mescalero Community Library system. The library’s own count.
Loans aren’t shown: this year’s report counted only 425 items borrowed against 905 visits, so we leave the count out.
52 programs a year
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
Mescalero Community Library, 148 Cottonwood Drive, Mescalero.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Mescalero Community Library branch.
New in Mescalero? 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 Mescalero cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $215K.
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 3,889 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mescalero | Mescalero Community Library fine-free | — | 35 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Bent | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- System-wide. Mescalero Community Library serves 4,204 people in and around Mescalero, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Mescalero.
- Loans left out. This year’s loan count is far below the library’s visits and shelves, so we leave it out.
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 Mescalero
Does Mescalero have a public library?
Yes. Mescalero Community Library, 148 Cottonwood Drive, serves 4,204 people in and around Mescalero (the survey’s count) and is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mescalero Community 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 Mescalero’s library?
It logged 0.2 visits per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Mescalero’s civic life grade?
Mescalero isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Mescalero.
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.