Pennsylvania Match Company · Photo: Mgreason at en.wikipedia · Public domainBellefonte’s library logs 1.3 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries its size
Centre County Library and Historical Museum serves 63,547 people in and around Bellefonte from 2 locations. Last year it lent 206K books, movies and e-books and logged 84K visits.
The short version on Bellefonte’s library
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, Centre County Library and Historical Museum sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on four. How it compares ↓
Most programs are for young children
76% of the 782 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 7.6 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 15% of the people the system serves have a library card, against a typical 39% for its size. How it compares ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
28% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 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; Centre County Library and Historical Museum serves 63,547 people in and around Bellefonte, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Bellefonte’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Bellefonte is ahead of 63% of U.S. towns, #204 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Bellefonte is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Bellefonte’s count of community nonprofits pulls it down.
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 →
22 community nonprofits are registered in Bellefonte
3.7 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 (3 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.0%
9.0% of Bellefonte’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.0% in the typical Pennsylvania 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 Bellefonte’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Centre County Library and Historical Museum serves 63,547 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 30 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Centre County Library and Historical Museum system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
206K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
34,325 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 11 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.
2 places to borrow in Bellefonte
Centre County Library and Historical Museum, 203 North Allegheny St., Bellefonte.
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 Centre County Library and Historical Museum branch.
New in Bellefonte? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Centre County Library and Historical Museum branches in Bellefonte
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.26 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Bellefonte cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $965K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $965K 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 9,668 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Centre County Library and Historical Museum serves 63,547 people in and around Bellefonte, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Bellefonte.
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 Bellefonte
Does Bellefonte have a public library?
Yes. Centre County Library and Historical Museum, 203 North Allegheny St., serves 63,547 people in and around Bellefonte (the survey’s count) and is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Centre County Library and Historical Museum 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 Bellefonte’s library?
It logged 1.3 visits and lent 3.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Bellefonte’s civic life grade?
B Bellefonte is ahead of 63% of U.S. towns on civic life, #204 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. 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 Bellefonte.
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.