Photo: Razz4367 · Public domainBelle Center’s library logs 0.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Belle Center Free Public Library serves 11,165 people in and around Belle Center. Last year it lent 9,304 books, movies and e-books and logged 3,328 visits.
What Belle Center’s library is like
Ohio pays a big share
89% of the budget comes from the state, and 0% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Belle Center Free Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Belle Center Free Public Library records 0.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people. Borrowing is 0.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $11 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Belle Center Free Public Library offered 86 programs last year, 7.7 per 1,000 residents against a typical 24. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 17% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 40% for its size. How it compares ↓
Runs on less money than most
Belle Center Free Public Library spends $11 per resident, less than 95% of similar-size libraries (typical: $43). 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; Belle Center Free Public Library serves 11,165 people in and around Belle Center, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Belle Center’s civic life grade
Belle Center 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 →
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Belle Center Free Public Library serves 11,165 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Belle Center Free Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
9,304 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
1,488 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
86 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
Belle Center Free Public Library, 103 S. Elizabeth St., Belle Center.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Good at every Belle Center Free Public Library branch.
New in Belle Center? 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 $1.29 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Belle Center cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $120K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $155K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $120K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 1,915 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Belle Center Free Public Library serves 11,165 people in and around Belle Center, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Belle Center.
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 Belle Center
Does Belle Center have a public library?
Yes. Belle Center Free Public Library, 103 S. Elizabeth St., serves 11,165 people in and around Belle Center (the survey’s count) and is open about 32 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Belle Center Free Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Belle Center’s library?
It logged 0.3 visits and lent 0.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Belle Center’s civic life grade?
Belle Center 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 Belle Center.
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.