Photo: Connor J. Williams · CC BY 3.0Belleview’s library is a branch of Marion County Public Library System, which lends less per resident than 78% of systems its size
Belleview’s library is the Belleview Public Library, a branch of Marion County Public Library System, which serves 413,951 people and lent 760K items last year.
What stands out about Belleview Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Belleview’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Belleview is ahead of 15% of U.S. towns, #173 of 273 in Florida. Belleview is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Belleview’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Marion County Public Library System spends $22 per resident, against a typical $36 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($43K–$72K) 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 →
19 community nonprofits are registered in Belleview
3.3 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 (15 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.3%
4.3% of Belleview’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 Belleview’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Marion County Public Library System serves 413,951 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 38 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Marion County Public Library System system. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
760K 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 Belleview’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
About 15 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
Belleview Public Library, 13145 Southeast Highway 484, Belleview.
Good at every Marion County Public Library System branch.
New in Belleview? 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 $1.51 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Belleview cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $9M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $14M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $9M budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 237,772 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. Belleview Public Library is one branch of Marion County Public Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 413,951 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 Belleview
Does Belleview have a public library?
Yes: Belleview Public Library, 13145 Southeast Highway 484, is a branch of Marion County Public Library System, which serves 413,951 people. The branch is open about 49 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Marion County Public Library System fine-free?
It charges late fines on some overdue items (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Belleview’s library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 1.8 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Belleview’s civic life grade?
C− Belleview is ahead of 15% of U.S. towns on civic life, #173 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 Belleview.
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.