Lea County · Permian Basin · New Mexico

Where to donate books in Eunice

Eunice Public Library, 1908-1909 J.N. Carson founding, 1928 Lea County oil-boom era, 2006-2010 URENCO USA National Enrichment Facility (only operating US commercial uranium enrichment), and NMLP volume-justified pickup from 320 miles north.

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Why the Eunice donation map is shaped by a 1909 daughter-named homestead, a 1928 oil boom, and a 2010 commercial uranium-enrichment facility

Eunice is a small City in southeastern Lea County, sitting on US-18 and NM-176 in the southeastern corner of New Mexico, less than 5 miles from the Texas state line. Its identity rests on four intertwined economic-and-historical layers spanning more than 140 years.

Pre-1908 ranching origins. The earliest documented Anglo presence in the area: in 1885, ex-buffalo hunters Barney and Jim Whalen claimed the area by digging a well. They sold their water rights to the Daugherty brothers in 1886. The Daugherty 84 Ranch (headquartered two miles east of the future town site) eventually became part of the Cowden Cattle Company of Midland (Texas), one of the largest Permian Basin ranching operations of its era.

1908-1909 — J.N. Carson founding. In the fall of 1908, J.N. Carson came to the southeastern corner of New Mexico to set up a homestead. In the spring of 1909, Carson built a store and a post office, and other families began to follow. The town that grew up around the Carson store was named for Carson's eldest daughter Eunice. Multi-generation Carson-line family papers and 84-Ranch / Cowden-Cattle-Company-adjacent records are core to older Eunice estates.

1928 — the Lea County oil boom. The first oilfield well was drilled in Lea County in 1926 (a non-producer). The first producing well was drilled in 1928 — marking the start of the Oil Boom that brought a fluctuating flow of itinerant oilfield workers. By the mid-1930s, Eunice's population had reached approximately 5,500. The Lea County / Permian Basin oil-and-gas economy has remained Eunice's principal industry ever since. Multi-generation Eunice oil-family estates can include 1928-onward employee correspondence, mining-camp / man-camp ephemera, period photographs, and contemporaneous regional press.

2006-2010 — URENCO USA / National Enrichment Facility. In one of the most consequential 21st-century industrial-siting decisions in southern New Mexico, URENCO USA — the only operating commercial uranium-enrichment facility in the United States — chose Eunice over an originally-planned Louisiana site, due to overwhelming community support for the facility. (The official licensee remains Louisiana Energy Services / LES, reflecting the original siting; the facility does business as URENCO USA / the National Enrichment Facility.) Construction began December 2006 and the site began producing enriched uranium in June 2010. The 2006-2010 construction era and the 2010-onward operations era both produce a substantial documentary record — including extensive Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) licensing material, Department of Energy oversight documentation, period photographs, employee correspondence, and contemporaneous regional press coverage of the historic site-selection process.

The donation map reflects the City's mid-sized scale (population ~3,000 at the 2020 census) and the layered industrial heritage. The principal public library is the Eunice Public Library at 1003 Avenue N. The 320-mile drive each way puts Eunice in deep volume-justified territory for NMLP. Routes always combine with Hobbs (20 miles north on US-18) and Lovington (35 miles northwest), and frequently with Carlsbad (50 miles west on NM-128).

Eunice Public Library

Address: 1003 Avenue N, Eunice, NM 88231 (mailing: P.O. Box 1629)

Phone: (575) 394-2336

Founded: 1950 in a small Avenue J building; located in the Community Center 1958-1979; current Avenue N location since 1980

System: City of Eunice Public Library serving Eunice and the surrounding southeastern Lea County

Source: Eunice Public Library — City of Eunice Official SiteLibrary Technology Guides

Standard library donation rules apply: clean condition, books in sellable shape, no water damage, no mold, no significant marginalia or highlighting, no ex-library copies. The library accepts books and standard media at the front desk during open hours.

For donors with mixed-condition material, large estate libraries, or volumes that exceed what the library can absorb, NMLP free pickup is the answer.

When NMLP free pickup makes sense in Eunice

Logistics: Call or text 702-496-4214. Routes always combine with Hobbs (20 mi N), Lovington (35 mi NW), and frequently Carlsbad (50 mi W). Cluster routing typically adds a week for the long Lea County corridor run.

Decision shortcut for Eunice

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Last reviewed 2026-05-08. NMLP is a for-profit New Mexico business; donations are not tax-deductible. Library address and phone, fall 1908 J.N. Carson homesteading and spring 1909 Carson-store-and-post-office founding (town named for Carson's eldest daughter Eunice), 1885 Whalen brothers / 1886 Daugherty 84 Ranch / Cowden Cattle Company pre-founding context, 1928 first-Lea-County-producing-oil-well era, December 2006 URENCO construction start / June 2010 first uranium-enrichment production verified against official sources cited above; report corrections to [email protected].