Photo: TomahawkBRAWL · CC BY-SA 4.0Salem’s library logs 8.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Salem Public Library serves 16,593 people in and around Salem. Last year it lent 208K books, movies and e-books and logged 143K visits.
Salem’s library, in brief
More library cards than residents
19,064 cards for 16,593 people. Cards held by people from outside the service area count too, so the total can pass the population. At the typical library serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, it’s 40%. How it compares ↓
Ohio pays a big share
65% of the budget comes from the state, and 24% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
One of the busiest library systems its size
Salem Public Library logs 8.6 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, and lends 8.8 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 ↓
Three times the programs of a typical library its size
Salem Public Library ran 1,166 programs last year, about 22 a week. That’s 70 per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24. People show up: 23,000 attended. Kids & programs ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.7 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.1, higher than at 92% of similar-size libraries. It’s 29% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
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 Public Library serves 16,593 people in and around Salem, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Salem’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Salem is ahead of 63% of U.S. towns, #420 of 914 in Ohio. Salem is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs are above most U.S. towns; Salem’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
53 community nonprofits are registered in Salem
4.5 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 (13 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.
7.8%
7.8% of Salem’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.5% in the typical Ohio 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.
1,166 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, across the whole system, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
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 Public Library serves 16,593 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 61 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Salem Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
208K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
61,115 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 Public Library, 821 E. State St., Salem.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Salem Public Library branch.
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 $2.16 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 $1.5M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.5M 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 19,064 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salem | Salem Public Library | — | 65 | B |
| Green Township | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Salem Heights | 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.
- System-wide. Salem Public Library serves 16,593 people in and around Salem, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Salem.
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, 821 E. State St., serves 16,593 people in and around Salem (the survey’s count) and is open about 65 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 8.6 visits and lent 12.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Salem’s civic life grade?
B Salem is ahead of 63% of U.S. towns on civic life, #420 of 914 in Ohio. 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.