Photo: Dough4872 · CC BY-SA 4.0Belmar’s library runs 67 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Belmar Public Library serves Belmar’s 5,907 residents. Last year it lent 16K books, movies and e-books and logged 24K visits.
What Belmar’s library is like
49% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 49% of loans, more per resident than at 61% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 51%. What people borrow ↓
A place to get online
Belmar Public Library logs about 82 Wi-Fi sessions a day and has 8 public computers. That’s 5.1 sessions per resident a year. A year at the library ↓
Programs lean toward adults
69% of the 398 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 109 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
Belmar invests in its library
Belmar Public Library spends $96 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. All of it comes from local taxes. 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 Belmar’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Belmar is ahead of 63% of U.S. towns, #153 of 466 in New Jersey. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; library visits rank 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 →
24 community nonprofits are registered in Belmar
4.2 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.1%
8.1% of Belmar’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.2% in the typical New Jersey 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 Belmar’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Belmar Public Library serves 5,907 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
49% of borrowing is digital
16K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 11K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.8 time last year, on average.
7,858 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, 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 Belmar last year.
Find it
Belmar Public Library, 517 Tenth Avenue, Belmar.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Belmar? 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 Belmar cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $566K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $398K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $566K 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 4,834 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Belmar ranks 3rd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avon-by-the-Sea | Avon Free Public Library | 11.4 | 39 | B+ |
| Spring Lake | Spring Lake Public Library | 10.7 | 40 | A− |
| Belmar | Belmar Public Library fine-free | 2.7 | 58 | B |
| Neptune Township | Neptune Township Public Library | 2.1 | 46 | C− |
| Wall Township | Wall Public Library | — | 58 | A− |
| Shark River Hills | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| West Belmar | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| Lake Como | None of its own | — | — | 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.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Belmar
Does Belmar have a public library?
Yes. Belmar Public Library, 517 Tenth Avenue, serves Belmar’s 5,907 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 58 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Belmar 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 Belmar’s library?
It logged 4.0 visits and lent 2.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Belmar’s civic life grade?
B Belmar is ahead of 63% of U.S. towns on civic life, #153 of 466 in New Jersey. 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 Belmar.
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.