Dent County Courthouse · Photo: Kbh3rd · CC BY 4.0Salem’s library lends 6.5 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Salem Public Library serves Salem’s 4,608 residents. Last year it lent 36K books, movies and e-books and logged 23K 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 43% of U.S. towns, #167 of 229 in Missouri. Library visits hold the grade up; Salem’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
13 community nonprofits are registered in Salem
2.8 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 (10 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.8%
6.8% of Salem’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 9.3% in the typical Missouri 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 5 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Salem Public Library serves 4,608 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 17 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
36K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 40K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.8 time last year, on average.
5,944 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 1 kids’ program 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, 403 N Jackson St., Salem.
E-books and audiobooks from home. 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 $3.15 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Salem cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $177K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $558K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $177K 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 5,195 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Salem Public Library counted one typical week and multiplied by 52, as the survey allows.
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, 403 N Jackson St., serves Salem’s 4,608 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Salem 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 Salem’s library?
It logged 4.9 visits and lent 7.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Salem’s civic life grade?
C+ Salem is ahead of 43% of U.S. towns on civic life, #167 of 229 in Missouri. 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.