For Andie Manzanares, one of the pleasures of helping run Abiquiú’s rural library is watching patrons “connect the dots” — whether it’s kids stumbling on new ideas in a book or families flipping through the archive of genealogical records dating back centuries to trace their roots.

They are community pillars in some of New Mexico’s towns. However, for dozens of the state’s rural libraries to survive, advocates are now hoping state lawmakers can pitch in with a crucial life-line.

Every day is different at the front desk of the Embudo Valley Library and Community Center, in Dixon. Volunteers like Shel Neymark help the local mayordomo book the community room for an acequia meeting one minute, then assist a local senior in setting up a video chat with their doctor the next.

Every day is different at the front desk of the Embudo Valley Library and Community Center, in Dixon. Volunteers like Shel Neymark help the local mayordomo book the community room for an acequia meeting one minute, then assist a local senior in setting up a video chat with their doctor the next.

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The head of the nonprofit New Mexico Rural Library Initiative asked state lawmakers this week to allocate $29.5 million in next year’s legislative session to further fund an endowment assisting 60 rural and tribal libraries.