Photo: Wordbuilder · CC BY 3.0Tucumcari’s library logs 6.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Tucumcari Public Library serves Tucumcari’s 5,278 residents. Last year it lent 265K books, movies and e-books and logged 35K visits.
Tucumcari’s library, in brief
Most of Tucumcari’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 89% of loans, more per resident than at 99% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 11%. What people borrow ↓
Tucumcari ranks 2nd in New Mexico for borrowing
Out of 36 New Mexico towns with a library of their own, Tucumcari comes 2nd for items borrowed per resident. How it compares ↓
Nearly everyone in Tucumcari has a card
5,011 cards for 5,278 people, or 95%. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
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 Tucumcari’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Tucumcari is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns, #9 of 46 in New Mexico. Tucumcari’s count of community nonprofits holds 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 →
37 community nonprofits are registered in Tucumcari
7.2 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 (8 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
4.5%
4.5% of Tucumcari’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 Tucumcari’s residents live; 2022.
89% of borrowing is digital
265K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 30K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1 time last year, on average.
235,036 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 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Tucumcari Public Library serves 5,278 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 131 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
79 programs a year
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 Tucumcari last year.
Find it
Tucumcari Public Library, 602 S. Second St., Tucumcari.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Tucumcari? 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 $23.63 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Tucumcari cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $170K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $170K 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 5,011 cardholders ÷ 12.
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 Tucumcari
Does Tucumcari have a public library?
Yes. Tucumcari Public Library, 602 S. Second St., serves Tucumcari’s 5,278 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 39 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Tucumcari 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 Tucumcari’s library?
It logged 6.7 visits and lent 50.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Tucumcari’s civic life grade?
B+ Tucumcari is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns on civic life, #9 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 Tucumcari.
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.