Photo: formulanone · CC BY-SA 2.0Belle Glade’s library is a branch of Palm Beach County Library System, which lends more per resident than 75% of systems its size
Belle Glade’s library is the Belle Glade Branch, a branch of Palm Beach County Library System, which serves 1,007,170 people and lent 5.7M items last year.
What stands out about Belle Glade Branch
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Belle Glade’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Belle Glade is ahead of 5% of U.S. towns, #234 of 273 in Florida. Belle Glade is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Belle Glade’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($36K–$60K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
43 community nonprofits are registered in Belle Glade
2.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (30 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
2.3%
2.3% of Belle Glade’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.6% in the typical Florida 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 Belle Glade’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Palm Beach County Library System serves 1,007,170 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
A year at Palm Beach County Library System
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Palm Beach County Library System system. The library’s own count.
Not reported for 2024: hours open. The survey fills a missing figure with its own estimate; we leave estimates out rather than show them as the library’s count.
Books and media off the shelf
5.7M print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Belle Glade’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
About 102 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Find it
Belle Glade Branch, 725 Northwest 4th Street, Belle Glade.
No late fees. Good at every Palm Beach County Library System branch.
New in Belle Glade? 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 $1.68 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Belle Glade cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $59M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $99M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $59M 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 329,082 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Not reported for 2024: hours open. The survey filled the figure with its own estimate, so it is left out.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. Belle Glade Branch is one branch of Palm Beach County Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 1,007,170 people it serves.
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 Belle Glade
Does Belle Glade have a public library?
Yes: Belle Glade Branch, 725 Northwest 4th Street, is a branch of Palm Beach County Library System, which serves 1,007,170 people.
Is Palm Beach County Library System fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Belle Glade’s library?
It logged 2.6 visits and lent 5.6 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Belle Glade’s civic life grade?
D− Belle Glade is ahead of 5% of U.S. towns on civic life, #234 of 273 in Florida. 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 Belle Glade.
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.