Photo: Dwight Burdette · CC BY 3.0Salem Township’s library lends 13 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Salem-South Lyon District Library serves 18,502 people in and around Salem Township. Last year it lent 303K books, movies and e-books and logged 116K visits.
The short version on Salem Township’s library
One of the busiest library systems its size
Salem-South Lyon District Library logs 6.3 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, and lends 13 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 87% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Kids’ borrowing is a standout
Children’s books and media are 51% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 95% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.8 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.1, higher than at 93% of similar-size libraries. It’s 23% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
Still charges late fines, unlike its neighbors
Salem-South Lyon District Library charges late fines on some overdue items. All three libraries in neighboring towns have dropped them. What your card is worth ↓
A well-funded system
Salem-South Lyon District Library spends $100 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (98%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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; Salem-South Lyon District Library serves 18,502 people in and around Salem Township, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Salem Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Salem Township is ahead of 74% of U.S. towns, #238 of 697 in Michigan. Salem Township 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 →
29 community nonprofits are registered in Salem Township
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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.4%
9.4% of Salem Township’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 12.4% in the typical Michigan 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.
About 6 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on all 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Salem-South Lyon District Library serves 18,502 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 101 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Salem-South Lyon District Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
303K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
70,287 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Salem-South Lyon District Library, 9800 Pontiac Trail, South Lyon.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Salem-South Lyon District Library branch.
New in Salem Township? 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 $2.50 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 $1.8M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $4.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.8M 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 8,644 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northfield Township | Northfield Township Area Library fine-free | 8.7 | 49 | C+ |
| Lyon Township | Lyon Township Public Library fine-free | 7.3 | 64 | C+ |
| Salem Township | Salem-South Lyon District Library | — | 58 | B+ |
| Superior Township | Superior Township Library fine-free | — | 64 | C |
| Northville Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
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.
- System-wide. Salem-South Lyon District Library serves 18,502 people in and around Salem Township, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Salem Township.
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. Salem-South Lyon District Library, 9800 Pontiac Trail, serves 18,502 people in and around Salem Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 58 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Salem-South Lyon District 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 6.3 visits and lent 16.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Salem Township’s civic life grade?
B+ Salem Township is ahead of 74% of U.S. towns on civic life, #238 of 697 in Michigan. 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.