Photo: Brandonrush · CC BY-SA 4.0Salem’s library is a branch of White River Regional Library, which lends less per resident than 87% of systems its size
Salem’s library is the Fulton County Library- Salem, a branch of White River Regional Library, which serves 80,973 people and lent 137K items last year.
What stands out about Fulton County Library- Salem
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Salem’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Salem is ahead of 76% of U.S. towns. Salem 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 Salem
4.2 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.
9.7%
9.7% of Salem’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.2% in the typical Arkansas 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 Salem’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 6 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
White River Regional Library serves 80,973 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 6 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole White River Regional Library system. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
137K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
46,782 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
What kids borrow
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Find it
Fulton County Library- Salem, 131 South Pickren Street, Salem.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Good at every White River Regional Library branch.
New in Salem? 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 $1.26 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Salem cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.6M 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 56,531 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Fulton County Library- Salem is one branch of White River Regional Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 80,973 people it serves.
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 Salem
Does Salem have a public library?
Yes: Fulton County Library- Salem, 131 South Pickren Street, is a branch of White River Regional Library, which serves 80,973 people. The branch is open about 38 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is White River Regional 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 Salem’s library?
It logged 1.1 visits and lent 1.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Salem’s civic life grade?
A− Salem is ahead of 76% 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 Salem.
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.