Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Belfast’s library logs 18 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Belfast Free Library serves Belfast’s 7,069 residents. Last year it lent 99K print books and media and logged 125K visits.
Belfast’s library, in brief
Belfast ranks 2nd in Maine for borrowing
Out of 98 Maine towns with a library of their own, Belfast comes 2nd for items borrowed per resident. It’s also #2 for library use and #2 for kids’ borrowing. How it compares ↓
Belfast uses its library more than almost any town its size
Belfast Free Library logs 18 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 14 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 97% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 39% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 93% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 39 items per child in Belfast last year. Kids & programs ↓
Belfast invests in its library
Belfast Free Library spends $113 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. 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.
What’s behind Belfast’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Belfast is among the top 1% of U.S. towns, #4 of 143 in Maine. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank highest.
Belfast Free Library logged 17.6 visits per resident in FY2024, #44 of the 3,790 town libraries we compare. The survey counts every visit, residents or not, and libraries don’t report how many come from out of town.
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 →
80 community nonprofits are registered in Belfast
11.5 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: arts & culture.
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 (11 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
11.4%
11.4% of Belfast’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 9.0% in the typical Maine 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 Belfast’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 40 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Belfast Free Library serves 7,069 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Books and media off the shelf
99K 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 1.8 times last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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 Belfast last year.
Find it
Belfast Free Library, 106 High Street, Belfast.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Belfast? 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 $2.03 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Belfast cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $800K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $800K 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 4,937 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.
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 count everyone. Belfast’s 124,620 visits include people from nearby towns and summer visitors; the survey has no resident share.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’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 Belfast
Does Belfast have a public library?
Yes. Belfast Free Library, 106 High Street, serves Belfast’s 7,069 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Belfast Free 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 Belfast’s library?
It logged 17.6 visits and lent 14.0 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Belfast’s civic life grade?
A+ Belfast is among the top 1% of U.S. towns on civic life, #4 of 143 in Maine. 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 Belfast.
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.