Belmont’s library logs 1.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
John Turgeson Public Library serves Belmont’s 1,095 residents. Last year it lent 2,595 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,555 visits.
What Belmont’s library is like
John Turgeson Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
John Turgeson Public Library records 1.4 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries serving under 2,500 people. Borrowing is 1 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9. It also spends less than most: $29 per resident, against a typical $54. How it compares ↓
Most of Belmont’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 57% of loans. Print still makes up 43%. What people borrow ↓
A small-town library
John Turgeson Public Library serves 1,095 residents with about one full-time staff. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Open only about 20 hours a week
John Turgeson Public Library keeps short hours: about 20 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Few residents carry a card
Only 15% of the people John Turgeson Public Library serves have a library card, against a typical 54% for its size. How it compares ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Belmont’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Belmont is ahead of 61% of U.S. towns. Belmont’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 →
7 community nonprofits are registered in Belmont
7.4 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.2%
9.2% of Belmont’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.6% in the typical Wisconsin 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 Belmont’s residents live; 2022.
57% of borrowing is digital
2,595 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 6,752 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.2 time last year, on average.
1,471 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 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
John Turgeson Public Library serves 1,095 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
15 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 Belmont last year.
Find it
John Turgeson Public Library, 220 S. Mound Ave., Belmont.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Belmont? 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 Belmont cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $32K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $41K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $32K 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 164 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 Belmont
Does Belmont have a public library?
Yes. John Turgeson Public Library, 220 S. Mound Ave., serves Belmont’s 1,095 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 20 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is John Turgeson 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 Belmont’s library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 2.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Belmont’s civic life grade?
B Belmont is ahead of 61% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Belmont.
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.