Bernard E. Wilmoth House · Photo: JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ, M.D. · CC BY-SA 4.0Belington’s library logs 0.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Belington Public Library serves 6,623 people in and around Belington. Last year it lent 2,992 books, movies and e-books and logged 2,124 visits.
What Belington’s library is like
Belington Public Library is used less than most libraries its size
Belington Public Library records 0.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people. Borrowing is 0.2 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8. It also spends less than most: $10 per resident, against a typical $43. How it compares ↓
Most of the library’s borrowing is digital
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 64% of loans. That’s partly because print borrowing is low: digital loans per resident are below typical too. What people borrow ↓
Few programs for a library this size
Belington Public Library offered 14 programs last year, 2.1 per 1,000 residents against a typical 34. Kids & programs ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
30% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 23%. What your card is worth ↓
Runs on less money than most
Belington Public Library spends $10 per resident, less than 95% of similar-size libraries (typical: $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; Belington Public Library serves 6,623 people in and around Belington, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Belington’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Belington is ahead of 66% of U.S. towns. Belington is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
7 community nonprofits are registered in Belington
3.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
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.
9.3%
9.3% of Belington’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.9% in the typical West Virginia 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 Belington’s residents live; 2022.
64% of borrowing is digital
2,992 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Belington’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
1,918 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Belington Public Library serves 6,623 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Belington Public Library system. The library’s own count.
14 programs a year
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.
Find it
Belington Public Library, 88 Elliott Ave., Belington.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Belington Public Library branch.
New in Belington? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
What a library card is worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Belington cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $69K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $47K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $69K 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 2,279 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Belington Public Library serves 6,623 people in and around Belington, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Belington.
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 Belington
Does Belington have a public library?
Yes. Belington Public Library, 88 Elliott Ave., serves 6,623 people in and around Belington (the survey’s count) and is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Belington 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 Belington’s library?
It logged 0.3 visits and lent 0.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Belington’s civic life grade?
B+ Belington is ahead of 66% 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 Belington.
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.