Garcia Opera House · Photo: TDBurleigh · CC BY-SA 3.0Socorro’s library runs 64 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Socorro Public Library serves Socorro’s 8,707 residents. Last year it lent 26K books, movies and e-books and logged 35K visits.
Socorro’s library, in brief
Nearly everyone in Socorro has a card
8,271 cards for 8,707 people, or 95%. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
A place to get online
Socorro Public Library logs about 215 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 10 public computers. That’s 9 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Socorro Public Library holds 43,000 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 Socorro’s civic life grade
On library visits and community nonprofits, Socorro is ahead of 65% of U.S. towns, #10 of 46 in New Mexico. Socorro is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank highest.
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 →
36 community nonprofits are registered in Socorro
4.2 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 (12 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Socorro Public Library serves 8,707 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
26K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 43K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
5,993 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. 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 Socorro last year.
Find it
Socorro Public Library, 401 Park Street, Socorro.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Socorro? 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 $1.49 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Socorro cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $470K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $700K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $470K 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 8,271 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. Socorro Public 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 Socorro
Does Socorro have a public library?
Yes. Socorro Public Library, 401 Park Street, serves Socorro’s 8,707 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Socorro Public 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 Socorro’s library?
It logged 4.1 visits and lent 3.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Socorro’s civic life grade?
B+ Socorro is ahead of 65% of U.S. towns on civic life, #10 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 Socorro.
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.