Photo: Daniel Case · CC BY-SA 3.0North Salem’s library runs 125 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Ruth Keeler Memorial Library serves North Salem’s 5,243 residents. Last year it lent 36K books, movies and e-books and logged 18K visits.
The short version on North Salem’s library
Four times the programs of a typical library its size
Ruth Keeler Memorial Library ran 656 programs last year, about 13 a week. That’s 125 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. People show up: 10,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
47% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 47% of loans, more per resident than at 91% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 53%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
25% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 74%. What your card is worth ↓
A big collection for the borrowing it gets
Ruth Keeler Memorial Library holds 33,000 books and other items, but the average item went out about once every two years last year. What people borrow ↓
North Salem invests in its library
Ruth Keeler Memorial Library spends $96 per resident a year, about twice the typical $43 for a library its size. 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.
What’s behind North Salem’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, North Salem is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns, #202 of 751 in New York. North Salem’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 →
40 community nonprofits are registered in North Salem
7.9 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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. 2 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.8%
7.8% of North Salem’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.4% in the typical New York 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 North Salem’s residents live; 2022.
About 7 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 North Salem last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Ruth Keeler Memorial Library serves 5,243 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 16 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
47% of borrowing is digital
36K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 33K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.6 time last year, on average.
16,772 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Ruth Keeler Memorial Library, 276 Titicus Road, North 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 North 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 $1.28 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average North Salem cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $506K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $648K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $506K 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 2,099 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
North Salem ranks 4th of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ridgefield | Ridgefield Library | 12.5 | 58 | A |
| Lewisboro | Lewisboro Library | 8.3 | 45 | A− |
| Somers | The Somers Library fine-free | 7.6 | 47 | B+ |
| North Salem | Ruth Keeler Memorial Library fine-free | 6.9 | 42 | B+ |
| Southeast | Brewster Public Library fine-free | 3.2 | 52 | C |
| Ridgebury | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
| West Mountain | 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.
- Visits are a typical-week estimate. Ruth Keeler Memorial 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 North Salem
Does North Salem have a public library?
Yes. Ruth Keeler Memorial Library, 276 Titicus Road, serves North Salem’s 5,243 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 42 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Ruth Keeler Memorial 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 North Salem’s library?
It logged 3.4 visits and lent 6.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is North Salem’s civic life grade?
B+ North Salem is ahead of 72% of U.S. towns on civic life, #202 of 751 in New York. 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 North 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.