Photo: Daniel Case · CC BY-SA 3.0Salem’s library runs 117 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Bancroft Public Library serves Salem’s 2,612 residents. Last year it lent 20K books, movies and e-books and logged 18K visits.
Salem’s library, in brief
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Bancroft Public Library ran 305 programs last year, about 6 a week. That’s 117 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34. People show up: 4,289 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Programs lean toward adults
55% of the 305 programs last year were for adults: classes, talks, clubs and events. 82 were for children. Kids & programs ↓
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 Salem’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Salem is ahead of 98% of U.S. towns, #8 of 751 in New York. All three 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 →
19 community nonprofits are registered in Salem
7.2 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. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
32.4%
32.4% of 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 Salem’s residents live; 2022.
About 2 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Bancroft Public Library serves 2,612 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 11 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
20K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 19K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.8 time last year, on average.
3,992 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Bancroft Public Library, 181 Main Street, Salem.
No late fees. 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 $3.77 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 $93K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $350K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $93K 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 1,348 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Salem borrows the most per resident of the 3 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
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 Salem
Does Salem have a public library?
Yes. Bancroft Public Library, 181 Main Street, serves Salem’s 2,612 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 34 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Bancroft 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 6.7 visits and lent 7.5 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?
A+ Salem is ahead of 98% of U.S. towns on civic life, #8 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 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.