Photo: Matthew.kowal · CC BY-SA 4.0South Valley’s library is a branch of Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Library System, which lends less per resident than 55% of systems its size
South Valley’s library is the South Valley Library, a branch of Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Library System, which serves 676,444 people and lent 4.4M items last year.
What stands out about South Valley Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind South Valley’s civic life grade
South Valley isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Library System, so there is no town figure for visits.
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 →
Volunteering in South Valley
South Valley is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
4.1%
4.1% of South Valley’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 South Valley’s residents live; 2022.
54% of borrowing is digital
4.4M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
2,358,170 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 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Library System serves 676,444 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 103 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Library System system. The library’s own count.
About 88 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, 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
South Valley Library, 3904 Isleta Blvd. SW, Albuquerque.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Library System branch.
New in South Valley? 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 $3.53 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average South Valley cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $19M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $67M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $19M 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 321,868 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Valley | South Valley Library fine-free | — | 39 | — unincorporated |
| Albuquerque | Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Main Library fine-free | — | 46 | C+ |
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.
- System-wide. South Valley Library is one branch of Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 676,444 people it serves.
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 South Valley
Does South Valley have a public library?
Yes: South Valley Library, 3904 Isleta Blvd. SW, is a branch of Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Library System, which serves 676,444 people. The branch is open about 39 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Library System 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 South Valley’s library?
It logged 2.4 visits and lent 6.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is South Valley’s civic life grade?
South Valley isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Library System, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in South Valley.
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.