Photo: Zeality · CC BY 2.5Taos’ library logs 13 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Taos Public Library serves Taos’s 6,474 residents. Last year it lent 80K books, movies and e-books and logged 86K visits.
What Taos’s library is like
More library cards than residents
20,440 cards for 6,474 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
Taos has the most-used library in New Mexico
Out of 36 New Mexico towns with a library of their own, Taos comes first for visits per resident. It’s also #1 for kids’ borrowing. How it compares ↓
Taos uses its library more than almost any town its size
Taos Public Library logs 13 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 8.6 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 87% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.7 e-items per resident, against a typical 1, higher than at 93% of similar-size libraries. It’s 30% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Programs lean toward adults
53% of the 351 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 121 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
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 Taos’ civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Taos is among the top 1% of U.S. towns, #1 of 46 in New Mexico. All three inputs put Taos near the top nationally; Taos’ count of community nonprofits ranks 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 →
122 community nonprofits are registered in Taos
18.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: arts & culture.
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 (29 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 5 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
12.9%
12.9% of Taos’ 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 Taos’ residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 38 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Taos Public Library serves 6,474 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
80K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 60K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.9 time last year, on average.
23,859 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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 Taos last year.
Find it
Taos Public Library, 402 Camino De La Placita, Taos.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Taos? 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 $2.38 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Taos cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $564K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $564K 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 20,440 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taos | Taos Public Library fine-free | 12.3 | 40 | A+ |
| Taos Pueblo | Taos Pueblo Library fine-free | — | 46 | — unincorporated |
| 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.
- 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 Taos
Does Taos have a public library?
Yes. Taos Public Library, 402 Camino De La Placita, serves Taos’ 6,474 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Taos 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 Taos’ library?
It logged 13.3 visits and lent 12.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Taos’ civic life grade?
A+ Taos is among the top 1% of U.S. towns on civic life, #1 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 Taos.
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.