Photo: John Phelan · CC BY 3.0Bellingham’s library runs 46 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Bellingham Public Library serves Bellingham’s 17,407 residents. Last year it lent 81K print books and media and logged 70K visits.
What stands out about Bellingham’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Bellingham’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Bellingham is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns, #192 of 283 in Massachusetts. Library visits hold the grade up; Bellingham’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($94K–$157K) 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 →
49 community nonprofits are registered in Bellingham
2.8 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (5 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.
6.9%
6.9% of Bellingham’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.9% in the typical Massachusetts 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 Bellingham’s residents live; 2022.
About 8 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 Bellingham last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Bellingham Public Library serves 17,407 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 32 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
81K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 54K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.5 times last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Bellingham Public Library, 100 Blackstone Street, Bellingham.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Bellingham? 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 $1.84 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bellingham cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $756K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $756K 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 8,629 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Bellingham ranks 5th of 9 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Franklin Town | Franklin Public Library | 8.1 | 60 | A− |
| Medway | Medway Public Library fine-free | 7.4 | 44 | A− |
| Hopedale | Bancroft Memorial Library fine-free | 5.1 | 34 | B+ |
| Blackstone | Blackstone Free Public Library fine-free | 5.1 | 33 | C |
| Bellingham | Bellingham Public Library fine-free | 4.7 | 50 | C+ |
| Milford | Milford Town Library fine-free | 4.2 | 60 | C |
| Mendon | Taft Public Library fine-free | 4.1 | 30 | A− |
| Wrentham | Fiske Public Library fine-free | 3.6 | 41 | C− |
| Woonsocket | Woonsocket Harris Public Library | 2.0 | 58 | D |
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.
- Digital loans not reported. Massachusetts libraries often don’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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 Bellingham
Does Bellingham have a public library?
Yes. Bellingham Public Library, 100 Blackstone Street, serves Bellingham’s 17,407 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 50 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bellingham 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 Bellingham’s library?
It logged 4.0 visits and lent 4.7 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Bellingham’s civic life grade?
C+ Bellingham is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns on civic life, #192 of 283 in Massachusetts. 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 Bellingham.
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.