Photo: John Phelan · CC BY 3.0Placitas’ library logs 12 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Placitas Community Library serves 5,041 people in and around Placitas. Last year it lent 19K books, movies and e-books and logged 59K visits.
What Placitas’s library is like
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 96% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 30%. The building also logs about 4 Wi-Fi sessions a day. A year at the library ↓
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
62% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 21%. What your card is worth ↓
Nearly everyone the system serves has a card
4,374 cards for 5,041 people, or 87%. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Programs lean toward adults
67% of the 89 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 26 were for children. 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; Placitas Community Library serves 5,041 people in and around Placitas, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Placitas’ civic life grade
On library visits and volunteering, Placitas is ahead of 98% of U.S. towns, #2 of 46 in New Mexico. Placitas is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank highest.
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 Placitas
Placitas is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
11.9%
11.9% of Placitas’ 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 Placitas’ residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Placitas Community Library system. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Placitas Community Library serves 5,041 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
19K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
6,160 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
89 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
Placitas Community Library, 453 Hwy 165, Placitas.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Placitas Community Library branch.
New in Placitas? The Handbook →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 $1.88 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Placitas cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $170K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $320K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $170K 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 4,374 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bernalillo | Town of Bernalillo Public Library fine-free | 1.4 | 41 | D |
| Placitas | Placitas Community Library fine-free | — | 33 | A+ |
| Santa Ana Pueblo | Santa Ana Pueblo Community Library fine-free | — | 45 | — 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.
- System-wide. Placitas Community Library serves 5,041 people in and around Placitas, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Placitas.
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 Placitas
Does Placitas have a public library?
Yes. Placitas Community Library, 453 Hwy 165, serves 5,041 people in and around Placitas (the survey’s count) and is open about 33 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Placitas 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 Placitas’ library?
It logged 11.7 visits and lent 3.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Placitas’ civic life grade?
A+ Placitas is ahead of 98% of U.S. towns on civic life, #2 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 Placitas.
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.