Photo: Bradleygee · CC BY-SA 2.0Belle Fourche’s library lends 6.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Belle Fourche Public Library serves Belle Fourche’s 5,873 residents. Last year it lent 55K books, movies and e-books and logged 14K visits.
What stands out about Belle Fourche’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Belle Fourche’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Belle Fourche is ahead of 55% of U.S. towns, #20 of 31 in South Dakota. Belle Fourche’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 →
45 community nonprofits are registered in Belle Fourche
7.8 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 (9 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.
7.0%
7.0% of Belle Fourche’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.9% in the typical South Dakota 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 Belle Fourche’s residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
55K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 51K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.8 time last year, on average.
15,963 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Belle Fourche Public Library serves 5,873 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 26 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
45 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Belle Fourche last year.
Find it
Belle Fourche Public Library, 905 5th Ave, Belle Fourche.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Belle Fourche? 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 $2.70 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Belle Fourche cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $313K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $845K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $313K 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 3,899 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
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 Fourche
Does Belle Fourche have a public library?
Yes. Belle Fourche Public Library, 905 5th Ave, serves Belle Fourche’s 5,873 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Belle Fourche 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 Fourche’s library?
It logged 2.3 visits and lent 9.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Belle Fourche’s civic life grade?
B Belle Fourche is ahead of 55% of U.S. towns on civic life, #20 of 31 in South Dakota. 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 Belle Fourche.
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.