Photo: CaroleHenson · CC BY-SA 4.0Talpa’s library lends 0.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Talpa Community Center Library serves 960 people in and around Talpa. Last year it lent 263 books, movies and e-books and logged 800 visits.
The short version on Talpa’s library
New Mexico pays a big share
83% of the budget comes from the state, and 9% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Talpa Community Center Library is used less than most libraries its size
Talpa Community Center Library records 0.8 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 0.3 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $2 per resident, against a typical $54. How it compares ↓
Programs are almost all for children
100% of the 60 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 0 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Runs on less money than most
Talpa Community Center Library spends $2 per resident, less than 99% of similar-size libraries (typical: $54). What your card is worth ↓
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; Talpa Community Center Library serves 960 people in and around Talpa, and its numbers cover all of them; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Talpa’s civic life grade
Talpa isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Talpa Community Center Library serves 960 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
A year at Talpa Community Center Library
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Talpa Community Center Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
263 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
About 1 kids’ program a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Talpa Community Center Library, 4 Archuleta Rd, Ranchos De Taos.
No late fees. Good at every Talpa Community Center Library branch.
New in Talpa? 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 $5.51 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Talpa cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $1,440.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $7,939 worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1,440 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 664 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Talpa | Talpa Community Center Library fine-free | — | 25 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Ranchos de Taos | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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. Talpa Community Center Library serves 960 people in and around Talpa, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Talpa.
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 Talpa
Does Talpa have a public library?
Yes. Talpa Community Center Library, 4 Archuleta Rd, serves 960 people in and around Talpa (the survey’s count) and is open about 25 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Talpa Community Center Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Talpa’s library?
It logged 0.8 visits and lent 0.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Talpa’s civic life grade?
Talpa isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Talpa.
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.