Photo: John Phelan · CC BY 3.0Nambe’s library runs 209 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 60 for libraries its size
Nambe Pueblo Library serves 2,026 people in and around Nambe. Last year it logged 1,500 visits.
Nambe’s library, in brief
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
85% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 0%. What your card is worth ↓
Programs are almost all for children
86% of the 424 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.7 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 5% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 54% for its size. How it compares ↓
Programs draw a crowd
5,439 people came to the system’s 424 programs last year: 2.7 per resident, against a typical 0.7, more than at 91% of similar-size libraries. 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; Nambe Pueblo Library serves 2,026 people in and around Nambe, 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 Nambe’s civic life grade
On library visits and volunteering, Nambe is ahead of 17% of U.S. towns. Nambe is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Nambe’s 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 ($45K–$74K) 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 →
Volunteering in Nambe
Nambe is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
7.6%
7.6% of Nambe’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 Nambe’s residents live; 2022.
About 7 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 3 of 5 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Nambe Pueblo Library serves 2,026 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
A year at Nambe Pueblo Library
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Nambe Pueblo Library system. The library’s own count.
Loans aren’t shown: this year’s report counted only 40 items borrowed against 1,500 visits, so we leave the count out.
Find it
Nambe Pueblo Library, 15a Bay Poe, Nambe Pueblo.
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 Nambe cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $126K.
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 100 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nambe | Nambe Pueblo Library fine-free | — | 52 | C− |
| Pojoaque | Pueblo of Pojoaque Public Library | — | 56 | B− |
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. Nambe Pueblo Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- System-wide. Nambe Pueblo Library serves 2,026 people in and around Nambe, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Nambe.
- 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 Nambe
Does Nambe have a public library?
Yes. Nambe Pueblo Library, 15a Bay Poe, serves 2,026 people in and around Nambe (the survey’s count) and is open about 52 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Nambe Pueblo Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Nambe’s library?
It logged 0.7 visits per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Nambe’s civic life grade?
C− Nambe is ahead of 17% 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 Nambe.
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.