Photo: Keller.baum · CC BY-SA 3.0Bellaire’s library logs 12 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Bellaire Public Library serves 3,743 people in and around Bellaire. Last year it lent 33K books, movies and e-books and logged 46K visits.
What Bellaire’s library is like
More library cards than residents
4,120 cards for 3,743 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, it’s 42%. How it compares ↓
One of the busiest library systems its size
Bellaire Public Library logs 12 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, and lends 8.3 print items per resident against a typical 3.8. On both counts it beats 86% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
25% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 73%. What your card is worth ↓
Programs lean toward adults
62% of the 264 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 84 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
Almost all the borrowing is off the shelf
Only 6% of loans are e-books, audiobooks or streaming, fewer per resident than at 67% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
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; Bellaire Public Library serves 3,743 people in and around Bellaire, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Bellaire’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Bellaire is among the top 1% of U.S. towns. Bellaire is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs put Bellaire near the top nationally; Bellaire’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
10 community nonprofits are registered in Bellaire
9.5 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
13.1%
13.1% of Bellaire’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 Bellaire’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 17 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Bellaire Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Bellaire Public Library serves 3,743 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
33K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
2,090 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.
Find it
Bellaire Public Library, 111 South Bridge Street, Bellaire.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Bellaire Public Library branch.
New in Bellaire? 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 $3.13 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bellaire cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $187K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $584K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $187K 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 4,120 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.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bellaire | Bellaire Public Library fine-free | — | 37 | A+ |
| Kearney Township | Bellaire Public Library fine-free | — | 37 | A+ |
| Forest Home Township | 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.
- System-wide. Bellaire Public Library serves 3,743 people in and around Bellaire, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Bellaire.
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 Bellaire
Does Bellaire have a public library?
Yes. Bellaire Public Library, 111 South Bridge Street, serves 3,743 people in and around Bellaire (the survey’s count) and is open about 37 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bellaire 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 Bellaire’s library?
It logged 12.3 visits and lent 8.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Bellaire’s civic life grade?
A+ Bellaire is among the top 1% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Bellaire.
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.