Photo: Unknown authorUnknown author · Public domainSolon’s library logs 1 visits per resident, against a typical 3.5 for libraries its size
Coolidge Library serves Solon’s 996 residents. Last year it lent 2,062 books, movies and e-books and logged 1,032 visits.
Solon’s library, in brief
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving under 2,500 people, Coolidge Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on five. How it compares ↓
A small-town library
Coolidge Library serves 996 residents with about one full-time staff. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
Open only about 20 hours a week
Coolidge Library keeps short hours: about 20 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. Madison Public Library in Madison, next door, is open about 48 hours a week. The building ↓
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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Solon’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Solon is ahead of 50% of U.S. towns. Solon’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 →
8 community nonprofits are registered in Solon
8.3 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
7.8%
7.8% of Solon’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 9.0% in the typical Maine 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 Solon’s residents live; 2022.
Below most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Coolidge Library serves 996 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 2 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
2,062 loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 5,494 books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.3 time last year, on average.
308 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
40 programs a year
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 Solon last year.
Find it
Coolidge Library, 17 South Main Street, Solon.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Solon? 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 $1.16 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Solon cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $29K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $33K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $29K 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 322 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Solon borrows the most per resident of the 3 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solon | Coolidge Library fine-free | 2.1 | 20 | B− |
| Madison | Madison Public Library | 1.6 | 48 | C+ |
| Bingham | Bingham Union Library fine-free | 1.0 | 12 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Embden | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Athens | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Brighton plantation | 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 Solon
Does Solon have a public library?
Yes. Coolidge Library, 17 South Main Street, serves Solon’s 996 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 20 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Coolidge 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 Solon’s library?
It logged 1.0 visits and lent 2.1 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Solon’s civic life grade?
B− Solon is ahead of 50% 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 Solon.
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.