Rail and Titsworth Canal Warehouse · Photo: eyesofibad · CC BY-SA 3.0Belfast’s library logs 2 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Belfast Public Library serves 2,252 people in and around Belfast. Last year it lent 11K books, movies and e-books and logged 4,442 visits.
Belfast’s library, in brief
New York pays a big share
63% of the budget comes from the state, and 37% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Open only about 21 hours a week
The Belfast branch keeps short hours: about 21 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Most programs are for young children
69% of the 59 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 28 for ages 0–5. 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; Belfast Public Library serves 2,252 people in and around Belfast, and its numbers cover all of them; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Belfast’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Belfast is ahead of 74% of U.S. towns. Belfast is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Belfast’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 Belfast
5.4 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.0%
8.0% of Belfast’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.4% in the typical New York 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Belfast Public Library serves 2,252 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 10 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Belfast Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
11K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
2,428 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
59 programs a year
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
Belfast Public Library, 75 South Main Street, Belfast.
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 Belfast Public Library branch.
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 $2.57 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Belfast cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $70K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $180K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $70K 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 685 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Angelica | Angelica Free Library fine-free | 11.9 | 29 | A |
| Belfast | Belfast Public Library fine-free | — | 21 | B+ |
| Friendship | Friendship Free Library fine-free | — | 25 | D |
| Caneadea | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| New Hudson | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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. Belfast Public Library serves 2,252 people in and around Belfast, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Belfast.
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 Public Library, 75 South Main Street, serves 2,252 people in and around Belfast (the survey’s count) and is open about 21 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Belfast 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 Belfast’s library?
It logged 2.0 visits and lent 5.0 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Belfast’s civic life grade?
B+ Belfast is ahead of 74% 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 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.