Photo: Visit Beloit · CC BY-SA 4.0Beloit’s library runs 19 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Beloit Public Library serves Beloit’s 45,762 residents. Last year it lent 190K books, movies and e-books and logged 153K visits.
What stands out about Beloit’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Beloit’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Beloit is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns, #264 of 358 in Wisconsin. Beloit is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Beloit’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($47K–$78K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
132 community nonprofits are registered in Beloit
3.6 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 (46 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 4 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.9%
6.9% of Beloit’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 Beloit’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Beloit Public Library serves 45,762 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 59 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
190K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 147K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1 time last year, on average.
37,107 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 8 kids’ programs a week
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 Beloit last year.
Find it
Beloit Public Library, 605 Eclipse Blvd., Beloit.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Beloit? 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 $1.24 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Beloit cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $2.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $2.4M 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 39,036 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beloit | Beloit Public Library | 4.1 | 62 | C+ |
| Turtle | 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.
- 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 Beloit
Does Beloit have a public library?
Yes. Beloit Public Library, 605 Eclipse Blvd., serves Beloit’s 45,762 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 62 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Beloit 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 Beloit’s library?
It logged 3.3 visits and lent 4.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Beloit’s civic life grade?
C+ Beloit is ahead of 38% of U.S. towns on civic life, #264 of 358 in Wisconsin. 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 Beloit.
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.