Photo: Smallbones · Public domainBelleville’s library lends 7.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Belleville Public Library serves Belleville’s 1,987 residents. Last year it lent 20K books, movies and e-books and logged 13K visits.
What Belleville’s library is like
More library cards than residents
2,782 cards for 1,987 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving under 2,500 people, it’s 54%. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
73% of the 245 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 1.8 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Belleville invests in its library
Belleville Public Library spends $110 per resident a year, about twice the typical $54 for a library its size. Almost all of it (87%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
This summary is written from the numbers on this page. Numbers are the library’s own report to the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Belleville’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Belleville is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Belleville’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
25 community nonprofits are registered in Belleville
12.0 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (8 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.2%
10.2% of Belleville’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.7% in the typical Kansas 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 Belleville’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Belleville Public Library serves 1,987 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
20K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 25K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
4,539 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Belleville last year.
Find it
Belleville Public Library, 1327 19th Street, Belleville.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Belleville? 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 Belleville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $219K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $330K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $219K 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 2,782 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Who has a library of their own, and how much each town borrows. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belleville | Belleville Public Library fine-free | 10.1 | 41 | A+ |
| Belleville Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Freedom Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Belleville
Does Belleville have a public library?
Yes. Belleville Public Library, 1327 19th Street, serves Belleville’s 1,987 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 41 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Belleville Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Belleville’s library?
It logged 6.6 visits and lent 10.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Belleville’s civic life grade?
A+ Belleville is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Belleville.
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.