Photo: Daniel Case · CC BY-SA 3.0Philmont’s library lends 12 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Philmont Public Library serves Philmont’s 1,377 residents. Last year it lent 19K books, movies and e-books and logged 8,759 visits.
The short version on Philmont’s library
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
40% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 54%. What your card is worth ↓
A small-town library
Philmont Public Library serves 1,377 residents with about one full-time staff, open about 28 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Philmont is a town of borrowers
Philmont Public Library lends 12 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 91% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
A place to get online
Philmont Public Library logs about 24 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 5 public computers. That’s 6.4 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Philmont’s civic life grade
On library visits and community nonprofits, Philmont is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns. Philmont is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Philmont’s 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 →
11 community nonprofits are registered in Philmont
7.7 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
19K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 17K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1 time last year, on average.
2,831 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 all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Philmont Public Library serves 1,377 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 13 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 1 kids’ program 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 Philmont last year.
Find it
Philmont Public Library, 101 Main Street, Philmont.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Philmont? 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 $4.18 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Philmont cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $80K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $333K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $80K 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 1,148 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 Philmont
Does Philmont have a public library?
Yes. Philmont Public Library, 101 Main Street, serves Philmont’s 1,377 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 28 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Philmont 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 Philmont’s library?
It logged 6.4 visits and lent 13.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Philmont’s civic life grade?
A+ Philmont is ahead of 95% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Philmont.
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.