TownTapestry
Sign inJoin
NMNew Mexico rankings

Towns with the best libraries for kids in New Mexico

Ranked by children’s books and media the town’s public library lent in a year, per child under 18 living in town. 36 towns with 2,500+ residents.

IMLS Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024

Taos 1 Taos 18.6 per child Taos Public Library Ruidoso 2 Ruidoso 15.2 per child Ruidoso Public Library Corrales 3 Corrales 12.9 per child Corrales Community Library
#TownKids’ loans per childLibraryKids’ programs a year
1 Taos Taos6,458 people 18.6 per child Taos Public Library 121
2 Ruidoso Ruidoso7,699 people 15.2 per child Ruidoso Public Library 81
3 Corrales Corrales8,555 people 12.9 per child Corrales Community Library 96
4 Bosque Farms Bosque Farms4,071 people 11.6 per child Bosque Farms Public Library 140
5 Map of Belen Belen7,450 people 10.7 per child Belen Public Library 207
6 Rio Rancho Rio Rancho108,515 people 7.7 per child Rio Rancho Public Library 403
7 Farmington Farmington46,314 people 7.7 per child Farmington Public Library 238
8 Los Lunas Los Lunas18,618 people 7.3 per child Los Lunas Public Library 102
9 Aztec Aztec6,150 people 7.2 per child Aztec Public Library 15
10 Map of Edgewood Edgewood6,124 people 7.1 per child Edgewood Community Library 47
11 Santa Fe Santa Fe89,019 people 6.7 per child Santa Fe Public Library 655
12 Map of Tularosa Tularosa2,597 people 6.4 per child Tularosa Public Library 24
13 Raton Raton6,026 people 6.0 per child Arthur Johnson Memorial Library 64
14 Silver City Silver City9,536 people 5.5 per child Silver City Public Library 235
15 Tucumcari Tucumcari5,160 people 5.3 per child Tucumcari Public Library 43
16 Artesia Artesia12,576 people 4.9 per child Artesia Public Library 180
17 Clayton Clayton2,753 people 4.8 per child Albert W. Thompson Memorial Library 54
18 Carlsbad Carlsbad31,746 people 4.2 per child Carlsbad Public Library 198
19 Las Cruces Las Cruces114,197 people 4.1 per child Thomas Branigan Memorial Library 200
20 Clovis Clovis37,942 people 3.8 per child Clovis Carver Public Library 99
21 Roswell Roswell47,638 people 3.6 per child Roswell Public Library 266
22 Portales Portales11,968 people 3.6 per child Portales Public Library 150
23 Socorro Socorro8,481 people 3.2 per child Socorro Public Library 276
24 Gallup Gallup21,023 people 3.1 per child Octavia Fellin Public Library 278
25 Deming Deming15,221 people 3.1 per child Marshall Memorial Library 15
26 Eunice Eunice3,015 people 2.8 per child Eunice Public Library 112
27 Hobbs Hobbs40,252 people 2.4 per child Hobbs Public Library 206
28 Bernalillo Bernalillo9,086 people 2.0 per child Town of Bernalillo Public Library 147
29 Las Vegas Las Vegas13,000 people 1.8 per child Carnegie Public Library 166
30 Lovington Lovington11,498 people 1.4 per child Lovington Public Library 99
31 Map of Grants Grants8,951 people 1.4 per child Grants Public Library 62
32 Bloomfield Bloomfield7,395 people 1.4 per child Bloomfield Public Library 73
33 Española Española10,473 people 1.3 per child Espanola Public Library 68
34 Truth or Consequences Truth or Consequences6,019 people 0.5 per child Truth Or Consequences Public Library 8
35 Sunland Park Sunland Park17,463 people 0.3 per child Sunland Park Community Library 48
36 Anthony Anthony8,767 people 0.2 per child Anthony Public Library 34

How this ranking works

We rank every town by children’s books and media the town’s public library lent in a year, per child under 18 living in town. The highest figure ranks #1. Children are the town’s residents under 18, from the Census. Each library reports its own yearly numbers to the Institute of Museum and Library Services (fiscal year 2024), and each town’s Library page shows how it compares with libraries of a similar size nationwide.

A town is ranked only when its library system serves that town alone, and the library’s own count of the people it serves is within 20% of the town’s population. Towns served by a county or regional system, or sharing a library with a neighbor, can’t be credited with the numbers, so they aren’t ranked. Libraries that didn’t respond to the survey aren’t ranked either. Vacation towns can rank high because summer residents and visitors use the library too.

Only towns with at least 2,500 residents are ranked; Census estimates for smaller places are too uncertain. Population and income: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Libraries: IMLS Public Libraries Survey. Town photos: Wikimedia Commons, credited on each town’s page.

Same ranking in other states

AL AZ CA CO FL IL IA KS ME MA MI MN MO NE NH NJ NM NY OK OR PA RI SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WI All of the U.S.