Masonic Temple · Photo: User:Smuckola · CC BY-SA 4.0Salina’s library runs 40 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Salina Public Library serves Salina’s 45,792 residents. Last year it lent 439K books, movies and e-books and logged 155K visits.
Salina’s library, in brief
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Salina Public Library ran 1,824 programs last year, about 35 a week. That’s 40 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14. Kids & programs ↓
Open about 64 hours a week
Salina Public Library is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 132 items go out. The building ↓
74% of Salina carry a library card
34,067 cards for 45,792 people, or 74%. At the typical library serving 25,000 to 100,000 people, it’s 39%. How it compares ↓
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.
What’s behind Salina’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Salina is ahead of 41% of U.S. towns, #99 of 149 in Kansas. Salina’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($46K–$77K) 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 →
207 community nonprofits are registered in Salina
4.5 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 (47 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 5 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.9%
5.9% of Salina’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.7% in the typical Kansas 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 Salina’s residents live; 2022.
About 13 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 Salina last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Salina Public Library serves 45,792 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 132 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
439K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 130K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2.5 times last year, on average.
110,984 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Salina Public Library, 301 W. Elm Street, Salina.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Salina? 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 $2.22 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Salina cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3.1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3.1M 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 34,067 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salina | Salina Public Library | 9.6 | 64 | C+ |
| Greeley Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Smoky Hill Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Smolan Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Elm Creek Township | None of its own | — | — | — graded with its twin city |
| Walnut Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Cambria Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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 Salina
Does Salina have a public library?
Yes. Salina Public Library, 301 W. Elm Street, serves Salina’s 45,792 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Salina 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 Salina’s library?
It logged 3.4 visits and lent 9.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Salina’s civic life grade?
C+ Salina is ahead of 41% of U.S. towns on civic life, #99 of 149 in Kansas. 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 Salina.
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.