Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Raton’s library lends 6.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Arthur Johnson Memorial Library serves Raton’s 6,041 residents. Last year it lent 41K books, movies and e-books and logged 15K visits.
What’s behind Raton’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Raton is ahead of 75% of U.S. towns, #6 of 46 in New Mexico. Raton’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
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 →
48 community nonprofits are registered in Raton
8.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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.
9.4%
9.4% of Raton’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 Raton’s residents live; 2022.
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.
Arthur Johnson Memorial Library serves 6,041 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 17 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
41K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 45K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
1,505 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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 Raton last year.
Find it
Arthur Johnson Memorial Library, 244 Cook Avenue, Raton.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Raton? 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 $2.55 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Raton cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $275K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $701K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $275K 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 2,743 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Raton
Does Raton have a public library?
Yes. Arthur Johnson Memorial Library, 244 Cook Avenue, serves Raton’s 6,041 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 51 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Arthur Johnson Memorial 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 Raton’s library?
It logged 2.6 visits and lent 6.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Raton’s civic life grade?
B+ Raton is ahead of 75% of U.S. towns on civic life, #6 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 Raton.
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.