Photo: Vasiliymeshko · CC BY-SA 4.0Roswell’s library logs 3.6 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Roswell Public Library serves Roswell’s 48,422 residents. Last year it lent 80K print books and media and logged 176K visits.
What Roswell’s library is like
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 70% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 22%. A year at the library ↓
Programs are almost all for children
80% of the 331 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 3.1 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Roswell Public Library holds 140,000 books and other items, but the average item went out about once every two years last year. What people borrow ↓
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.
What’s behind Roswell’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Roswell is ahead of 26% of U.S. towns, #24 of 46 in New Mexico. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($39K–$64K) 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 →
175 community nonprofits are registered in Roswell
3.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (70 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 4 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
2.9%
2.9% of Roswell’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 Roswell’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Roswell Public Library serves 48,422 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 28 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
80K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 140K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 kids’ programs 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 Roswell last year.
Find it
Roswell Public Library, 301 N. Pennsylvania Ave, Roswell.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Roswell? The Handbook →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 Roswell cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.4M 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 10,071 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 Roswell
Does Roswell have a public library?
Yes. Roswell Public Library, 301 N. Pennsylvania Ave, serves Roswell’s 48,422 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 54 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Roswell Public 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 Roswell’s library?
It logged 3.6 visits and lent 1.6 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Roswell’s civic life grade?
C Roswell is ahead of 26% of U.S. towns on civic life, #24 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 Roswell.
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.