Photo: kennethaw88 · CC BY 4.0Belding’s library logs 5.2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Alvah N. Belding Memorial Library serves 11,087 people in and around Belding. Last year it lent 43K books, movies and e-books and logged 57K visits.
What stands out about Alvah N. Belding Memorial Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Belding’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Belding is ahead of 98% of U.S. towns, #12 of 697 in Michigan. Belding is graded on two of the three inputs. Both 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 →
40 community nonprofits are registered in Belding
6.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
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 (9 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
56.3%
56.3% of Belding’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 12.4% in the typical Michigan 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 Belding’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1993
Alvah N. Belding Memorial Library, 302 East Main Street, Belding.
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 Alvah N. Belding Memorial Library branch.
New in Belding? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Alvah N. Belding Memorial Library
Belding, Alvah N., Memorial Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 21, 1993. It is significant for its architecture and social history at the local level. Its architecture is described as Beaux Arts.
The Alvah N. Belding Memorial Library is a public library building located at 302 East Main Street in Belding, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.
More about the building →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.
Alvah N. Belding Memorial Library serves 11,087 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 17 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Alvah N. Belding Memorial Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
43K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
11,361 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. 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, 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.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.72 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Belding cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $400K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $689K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $400K 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 2,673 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Alvah N. Belding Memorial Library serves 11,087 people in and around Belding, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Belding.
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 Belding
Does Belding have a public library?
Yes. Alvah N. Belding Memorial Library, 302 East Main Street, serves 11,087 people in and around Belding (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Alvah N. Belding Memorial 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 Belding’s library?
It logged 5.2 visits and lent 3.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Belding’s civic life grade?
A+ Belding is ahead of 98% of U.S. towns on civic life, #12 of 697 in Michigan. 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 Belding.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.