Photo: Infrogmation of New Orleans · CC BY-SA 3.0Belle Chasse’s library logs 0.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Plaquemines Parish Library serves 22,289 people in and around Belle Chasse. Last year it lent 17K books, movies and e-books and logged 10K visits.
The short version on Belle Chasse’s library
Plaquemines Parish Library is used less than most libraries its size
Plaquemines Parish Library records 0.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 0.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Plaquemines Parish Library offered 34 programs last year, 1.5 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 16% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 40% for its size. How it compares ↓
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; Plaquemines Parish Library serves 22,289 people in and around Belle Chasse, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Belle Chasse’s civic life grade
Belle Chasse isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Plaquemines Parish Library, so there is no town figure for visits.
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 →
Volunteering in Belle Chasse
Belle Chasse is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
6.4%
6.4% of Belle Chasse’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 5.9% in the typical Louisiana 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 Chasse’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Plaquemines Parish Library serves 22,289 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Plaquemines Parish Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
17K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
3,213 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
34 programs a year
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
Plaquemines Parish Library, 8442 Hwy. 23, Belle Chasse.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Plaquemines Parish Library branch.
New in Belle Chasse? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Belle Chasse cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.2M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $261K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.2M 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 3,578 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belle Chasse | Plaquemines Parish Library fine-free | — | 43 | — unincorporated |
| Terrytown | Terrytown Branch fine-free | — | 48 | — unincorporated |
| New Orleans Station | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Timberlane | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Woodmere | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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.
- System-wide. Plaquemines Parish Library serves 22,289 people in and around Belle Chasse, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Belle Chasse.
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 Chasse
Does Belle Chasse have a public library?
Yes. Plaquemines Parish Library, 8442 Hwy. 23, serves 22,289 people in and around Belle Chasse (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Plaquemines Parish 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 Belle Chasse’s library?
It logged 0.5 visits and lent 0.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Belle Chasse’s civic life grade?
Belle Chasse isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Plaquemines Parish Library, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Belle Chasse.
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.