Belleville’s library lends 12 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Belleville Philomathean Free Library serves 199 people in and around Belleville. Last year it lent 2,304 print books and media and logged 775 visits.
What Belleville’s library is like
Open only about 14 hours a week
The Belleville branch keeps short hours: about 14 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
A system of heavy borrowers
Belleville Philomathean Free Library lends 12 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving under 2,500 people, more than 90% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
A well-funded system
Belleville Philomathean Free Library spends $263 per resident a year, about five times the typical $54 for a library its size. Almost all of it (89%) 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; Belleville Philomathean Free Library serves 199 people in and around Belleville, 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 Belleville’s civic life grade
Belleville isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Books and media off the shelf
2,304 print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Belleville Philomathean Free Library serves 199 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 3 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Belleville Philomathean Free Library system. The library’s own count.
10 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Belleville Philomathean Free Library, 8086 County Route 75, Belleville.
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 Belleville Philomathean Free Library branch.
New in Belleville? 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 $4.32 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Belleville cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $52K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $226K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $52K 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 125 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Digital loans not reported. New York libraries often don’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
- System-wide. Belleville Philomathean Free Library serves 199 people in and around Belleville, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Belleville.
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 Belleville
Does Belleville have a public library?
Yes. Belleville Philomathean Free Library, 8086 County Route 75, serves 199 people in and around Belleville (the survey’s count) and is open about 14 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Belleville Philomathean Free 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 Belleville’s library?
It logged 3.9 visits and lent 11.6 print items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Belleville’s civic life grade?
Belleville isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Belleville.
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.