Bellevue Ave. Branch Lib.
Bellevue Ave. Branch Lib. serves 40,921 people in and around Upper Montclair. Last year it lent 385K books, movies and e-books and logged 187K visits.
What stands out about Bellevue Ave. Branch Lib.
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
About 14 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.
Every hour the doors are open, about 90 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
385K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 150K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.8 times last year, on average.
114,739 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.44 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Upper Montclair cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $4.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.1M 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 22,793 cardholders ÷ 12.
A National Register landmark since 1988
Bellevue Ave. Branch Lib., 185 Bellevue Avenue, Upper Montclair.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Upper Montclair? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Free Public Library, Upper Montclair Branch
Free Public Library, Upper Montclair Branch was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jul 1, 1988. It is significant for its architecture at the local level. It was listed as part of Montclair MRA.
The Free Public Library, Upper Montclair Branch is located at 185 Bellevue Avenue in the Upper Montclair section of Montclair in Essex County, United States. The building was built in 1914 and still serves as a Bellevue Branch of the Montclair Public Library. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 1, 1988, for its significance in architecture.
More about the building →Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 8 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S. A tiny town’s library always looks busier per person, so it’s only compared with its own size.
library systems for visits per resident.
Bellevue Ave. Branch Lib. serves 40,921 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Libraries next door
Upper Montclair borrows the most per resident of the 4 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upper Montclair | Bellevue Ave. Branch Lib. fine-free | 9.4 | 30 |
| Montclair | Montclair Public Library fine-free | 9.4 | 52 |
| Cedar Grove | Cedar Grove Free Public Library fine-free | 6.9 | 50 |
| Clifton | Clifton Public Library | 4.7 | 60 |
| Montclair State University | None of its own | — | — |
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.
About these numbers
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Hours are an average. The survey reports a building’s public hours for the whole year. We divide by the weeks it was open, so check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
- Compared by size. “Similar-size” means libraries serving about as many people, nationwide. Per-resident numbers always flatter the smallest towns, so they’re never compared with big cities.
- 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.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Upper Montclair.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.