Photo: User:OHWiki · CC BY-SA 2.5Bellevue’s library runs 56 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Bellevue Public Library serves 13,197 people in and around Bellevue. Last year it lent 155K books, movies and e-books and logged 47K visits.
Bellevue’s library, in brief
Ohio pays a big share
62% of the budget comes from the state, and 26% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Twice the programs of a typical library its size
Bellevue Public Library ran 742 programs last year, about 14 a week. That’s 56 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24. People show up: 14,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.2 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.1, higher than at 89% of similar-size libraries. It’s 27% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Most programs are for young children
66% of the 742 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 6.2 a week 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; Bellevue Public Library serves 13,197 people in and around Bellevue, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Bellevue’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Bellevue is ahead of 93% of U.S. towns, #50 of 914 in Ohio. Bellevue is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Bellevue’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 →
65 community nonprofits are registered in Bellevue
7.9 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 (14 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
9.6%
9.6% of Bellevue’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.5% in the typical Ohio 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 Bellevue’s residents live; 2022.
About 9 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Bellevue Public Library serves 13,197 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 50 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Bellevue Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
155K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
41,574 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Bellevue Public Library, 224 E Main St., Bellevue.
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 Bellevue Public Library branch.
New in Bellevue? 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 $2.63 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bellevue cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $970K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $970K 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 6,800 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bellevue | Bellevue Public Library fine-free | — | 60 | A |
| York Township | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Lyme Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Groton Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
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. Bellevue Public Library serves 13,197 people in and around Bellevue, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Bellevue.
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 Bellevue
Does Bellevue have a public library?
Yes. Bellevue Public Library, 224 E Main St., serves 13,197 people in and around Bellevue (the survey’s count) and is open about 60 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bellevue 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 Bellevue’s library?
It logged 3.6 visits and lent 11.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Bellevue’s civic life grade?
A Bellevue is ahead of 93% of U.S. towns on civic life, #50 of 914 in Ohio. 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 Bellevue.
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.