Photo: Fletcher6 · CC BY-SA 3.0Salem’s library lends 5.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Salem Public Library serves Salem’s 44,722 residents. Last year it lent 263K print books and media and logged 108K visits.
What stands out about Salem’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Salem’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Salem is ahead of 37% of U.S. towns, #193 of 283 in Massachusetts. Salem’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($64K–$106K) 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 →
169 community nonprofits are registered in Salem
3.8 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 (32 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 11 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.3%
7.3% of Salem’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.9% in the typical Massachusetts 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 4 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Salem Public Library serves 44,722 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 79 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Books and media off the shelf
263K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 129K books and other items on the shelves went out about 2 times last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 5 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 Salem last year.
Find it
Salem Public Library, 370 Essex St., Salem.
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 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 $2.22 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 $1.9M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.9M 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 18,162 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Salem ranks 4th of 6 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swampscott | Swampscott Public Library fine-free | 10.4 | 54 | B |
| Beverly | Beverly Public Library fine-free | 8.6 | — | B+ |
| Danvers | Peabody Institute Library fine-free | 7.4 | 63 | B |
| Salem | Salem Public Library fine-free | 5.9 | 64 | C+ |
| Marblehead | Abbot Public Library fine-free | 4.8 | 47 | A− |
| Peabody | Peabody Institute Library fine-free | 3.0 | — | 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.
- Digital loans not reported. Massachusetts libraries often don’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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. Salem Public Library, 370 Essex St., serves Salem’s 44,722 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 64 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Salem 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 Salem’s library?
It logged 2.4 visits and lent 5.9 print 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?
C+ Salem is ahead of 37% of U.S. towns on civic life, #193 of 283 in Massachusetts. 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.