Photo: John Phelan · CC BY 3.0Belmont’s library lends 10 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Belmont Public Library serves Belmont’s 26,710 residents. Last year it lent 280K print books and media and logged 123K visits.
What Belmont’s library is like
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 53% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 92% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 23 items per child in Belmont last year. Kids & programs ↓
Belmont is a town of borrowers
Belmont Public Library lends 10 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, more than 91% of similar-size libraries. Each item on the shelves went out about 2.4 times last year. What people borrow ↓
Programs lean toward adults
52% of the 664 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 228 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
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.
What’s behind Belmont’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Belmont is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns, #53 of 283 in Massachusetts. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
148 community nonprofits are registered in Belmont
5.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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 (24 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 19 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
10.6%
10.6% of Belmont’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 Belmont’s residents live; 2022.
About 4 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 Belmont last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Belmont Public Library serves 26,710 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 97 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
280K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 116K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.4 times last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Belmont Public Library, 336 Concord Ave., Belmont.
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 Belmont? 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 $1.98 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Belmont cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.1M 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 13,535 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Belmont ranks 5th of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lexington | Cary Memorial Library fine-free | 20.2 | 63 | A |
| Watertown | Watertown Free Public Library fine-free | 20.2 | 70 | C+ |
| Arlington | Robbins Library fine-free | 16.6 | 97 | A |
| Cambridge | Cambridge Public Library fine-free | 11.3 | — | A |
| Belmont | Belmont Public Library fine-free | 10.5 | 55 | A |
| Waltham | Waltham Public Library fine-free | 6.5 | 64 | B− |
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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Belmont Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
- 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 Belmont
Does Belmont have a public library?
Yes. Belmont Public Library, 336 Concord Ave., serves Belmont’s 26,710 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 55 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Belmont 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 Belmont’s library?
It logged 4.6 visits and lent 10.5 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Belmont’s civic life grade?
A Belmont is ahead of 86% of U.S. towns on civic life, #53 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 Belmont.
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.