Photo: Paul Sableman from St. Louis, MO · CC BY 2.0Salem Township’s library logs 6.7 visits per resident, against a typical 3 for libraries its size
Bryan-Bennett Library serves 7,282 people in and around Salem Township. Last year it lent 30K books, movies and e-books and logged 49K visits.
What stands out about Salem Township’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Salem Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Salem Township is ahead of 67% of U.S. towns, #212 of 754 in Illinois. Salem Township is graded on two of the three inputs. Salem Township’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls 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 →
51 community nonprofits are registered in Salem Township
5.7 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 (16 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.2%
7.2% of Salem Township’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.1% in the typical Illinois 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 Township’s residents live; 2022.
Every hour the doors are open, about 13 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Bryan-Bennett Library serves 7,282 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
30K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 38K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.7 time last year, on average.
3,611 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card.
About 2 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.
Find it
Bryan-Bennett Library, 315 South Maple Street, Salem.
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 $2.22 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Salem Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $222K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $491K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $222K 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 802 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salem Township | Bryan-Bennett Library | 4.2 | 46 | B+ |
| Tonti Township | None of its own | — | — | — graded with its twin city |
| Odin Township | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Raccoon Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Stevenson Township | 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 Salem Township
Does Salem Township have a public library?
Yes. Bryan-Bennett Library, 315 South Maple Street, serves 7,282 people in and around Salem Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 46 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bryan-Bennett 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 Township’s library?
It logged 6.7 visits and lent 4.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Salem Township’s civic life grade?
B+ Salem Township is ahead of 67% of U.S. towns on civic life, #212 of 754 in Illinois. 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 Township.
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.