Photo: Matthew.kowal · CC BY-SA 4.0Silver City’s library logs 4.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Silver City Public Library serves Silver City’s 9,704 residents. Last year it lent 69K books, movies and e-books and logged 42K visits.
The short version on Silver City’s library
Most programs are for young children
71% of the 332 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 2.2 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
A place to get online
Silver City Public Library logs about 171 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 13 public computers. That’s 6.4 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 2.7 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 86% of similar-size libraries. It’s 38% of all loans. 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 Silver City’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Silver City is ahead of 45% of U.S. towns, #13 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 →
32 community nonprofits are registered in Silver City
3.4 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (11 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.7%
6.7% of Silver City’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 Silver City’s residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
69K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 50K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
25,959 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Silver City Public Library serves 9,704 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 29 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
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 Silver City last year.
Find it
Silver City Public Library, 515 West College Avenue, Silver City.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Silver City? 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 $1.91 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Silver City cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $675K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $675K 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 6,727 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Silver City | Silver City Public Library fine-free | 7.1 | 45 | B− |
| Little Walnut Village | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Rosedale | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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.
- 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 Silver City
Does Silver City have a public library?
Yes. Silver City Public Library, 515 West College Avenue, serves Silver City’s 9,704 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Silver City 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 Silver City’s library?
It logged 4.3 visits and lent 7.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Silver City’s civic life grade?
B− Silver City is ahead of 45% of U.S. towns on civic life, #13 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 Silver City.
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.