Photo: This illustration was made by Peter Potrowl. Please credit this with : © Peter Potrowl in the immediate vicinity of the image. A link to my website sitemai.eu would be much appreciated but isn't mandatory. An email to Peter Potrowl would be appreciated too. Do not copy this image illegally by ignoring the terms of the license below, as it is not in the public domain. If you would like special permission to use, license, or purchase the image please contact me Peter Potrowl to negotiate terms. More free pictures in my website. Donations are accepted here and here. · CC BY-SA 3.0Reserve’s library lends 6.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Reserve Public Library serves Reserve’s 293 residents. Last year it lent 1,807 books, movies and e-books and logged 515 visits.
Reserve’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
700 cards for 293 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
New Mexico pays a big share
55% of the budget comes from the state, and 45% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
People borrow more than they stay
Borrowing per resident is higher than at 70% of similar-size libraries, but visits are lower than at 80%. People come in, pick up their books and go. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Reserve Public Library serves 293 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 42 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 ↓
Reserve invests in its library
Reserve Public Library spends $142 per resident a year, about twice the typical $54 for a library its size. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Reserve’s civic life grade
Reserve 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 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Reserve Public Library serves 293 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
A year at Reserve Public Library
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
1,807 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 7,862 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card.
11 programs a year
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.
Find it
Reserve Public Library, 15 Jake Scott St., Reserve.
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 Reserve cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $42K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $31K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $42K 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 700 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 Reserve
Does Reserve have a public library?
Yes. Reserve Public Library, 15 Jake Scott St., serves Reserve’s 293 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 42 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Reserve 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 Reserve’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 6.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Reserve’s civic life grade?
Reserve 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 Reserve.
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.