Photo: Wordbuilder · CC BY 3.0Santa Rosa’s library logs 11 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Moise Memorial Library serves Santa Rosa’s 2,850 residents. Last year it lent 3,635 books, movies and e-books and logged 30K visits.
Santa Rosa’s library, in brief
More of a place to be than a place to borrow
Visits per resident beat 94% of similar-size libraries, while borrowing beats only 14%. The building also logs about 12 Wi-Fi sessions a day. A year at the library ↓
Nearly everyone in Santa Rosa has a card
2,740 cards for 2,850 people, or 96%. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Moise Memorial Library holds 26,000 books and other items, but the average item went out less than once 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 Santa Rosa’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Santa Rosa is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns, #12 of 46 in New Mexico. Library visits hold the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls 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 →
13 community nonprofits are registered in Santa Rosa
5.3 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
3.6%
3.6% of Santa Rosa’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 Santa Rosa’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Moise Memorial Library serves 2,850 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
3,635 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 26K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.1 time last year, on average.
45 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Santa Rosa last year.
Find it
Moise Memorial Library, 208 5th St., Santa Rosa.
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 Santa Rosa cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $229K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $76K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $229K 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 2,740 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Moise Memorial Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Santa Rosa
Does Santa Rosa have a public library?
Yes. Moise Memorial Library, 208 5th St., serves Santa Rosa’s 2,850 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Moise Memorial Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Santa Rosa’s library?
It logged 10.5 visits and lent 1.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Santa Rosa’s civic life grade?
B Santa Rosa is ahead of 62% of U.S. towns on civic life, #12 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 Santa Rosa.
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.