Photo: A person of sorts · CC BY 4.0Mountainair’s library runs 2.3 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Mountainair Public Library serves Mountainair’s 884 residents. Last year it lent 1,566 print books and media and logged 1,872 visits.
Mountainair’s library, in brief
New Mexico pays a big share
93% of the budget comes from the state, and 7% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Mountainair Public Library offered 2 programs last year, 2.3 per 1,000 residents against a typical 60. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Mountainair Public Library serves 884 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 25 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Nearly everyone in Mountainair has a card
792 cards for 884 people, or 90%. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
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 Mountainair’s civic life grade
Mountainair 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 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Mountainair Public Library serves 884 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 1 item goes out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
1,566 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 9,135 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card.
2 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Mountainair last year.
Find it
Mountainair Public Library, 109 N. Roosevelt, Mountainair.
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 $1.28 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Mountainair cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $20K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $26K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $20K 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 792 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Mountainair
Does Mountainair have a public library?
Yes. Mountainair Public Library, 109 N. Roosevelt, serves Mountainair’s 884 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 25 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Mountainair Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Mountainair’s library?
It logged 2.1 visits and lent 1.8 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Mountainair’s civic life grade?
Mountainair 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 Mountainair.
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.