Foster Farm Barn · Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0Belgrade’s library logs 0.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Belgrade Public Library serves Belgrade’s 3,414 residents. Last year it lent 6,398 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,976 visits.
The short version on Belgrade’s library
Belgrade Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Belgrade Public Library records 0.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 1.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. How it compares ↓
Every town next door borrows more
Belgrade’s library lends 1.9 items per resident. Each of the three neighboring towns with a library of its own lends more, led by Oakland at 5.1. Libraries next door ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Belgrade Public Library offered 17 programs last year, 5 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. 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 Belgrade’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Belgrade is ahead of 42% of U.S. towns, #103 of 143 in Maine. Belgrade’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($66K–$110K) 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 →
18 community nonprofits are registered in Belgrade
5.4 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.4%
8.4% of Belgrade’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 Belgrade’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Belgrade Public Library serves 3,414 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 4 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
6,398 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 8,337 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.5 time last year, on average.
2,410 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
17 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Belgrade last year.
Find it
Belgrade Public Library, 124 Depot Road, Belgrade.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Belgrade? 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 Belgrade cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $109K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $98K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $109K 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 2,323 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Belgrade ranks 4th of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakland | Oakland Public Library | 5.1 | 33 | C |
| Mount Vernon | Dr. Shaw Memorial Library fine-free | 4.6 | 15 | A |
| Readfield | Readfield Community Library fine-free | 4.5 | 22 | B |
| Belgrade | Belgrade Public Library fine-free | 1.9 | 30 | C+ |
| Rome | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Sidney | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Smithfield | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Manchester | None of its own | — | — | A− |
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. Belgrade Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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 Belgrade
Does Belgrade have a public library?
Yes. Belgrade Public Library, 124 Depot Road, serves Belgrade’s 3,414 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 30 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Belgrade 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 Belgrade’s library?
It logged 0.6 visits and lent 1.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Belgrade’s civic life grade?
C+ Belgrade is ahead of 42% of U.S. towns on civic life, #103 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 Belgrade.
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.