Photo: Famartin · CC BY-SA 4.0Salem Township’s library runs 13 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 34 for libraries its size
Hamlin Community Library serves 8,965 people in and around Salem Township. Last year it lent 34K books, movies and e-books and logged 15K visits.
The short version on Salem Township’s library
Gifts and endowments pay a real share
44% of the system’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 35%. What your card is worth ↓
Programs are almost all for children
84% of the 118 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including 48 for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
Below typical on every measure
Against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, Hamlin Community Library sits below the middle on all seven per-resident measures we compare, and in the bottom 30% on three. How it compares ↓
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; Hamlin Community Library serves 8,965 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 56% of U.S. towns, #278 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. Salem Township is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Salem Township’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 →
14 community nonprofits are registered in Salem Township
3.3 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 (1 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
9.0%
9.0% of Salem Township’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.0% in the typical Pennsylvania 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Hamlin Community Library serves 8,965 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 19 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Hamlin Community Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
34K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
6,356 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 2 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.
Find it
Hamlin Community Library, 518 Easton Turnpike, Lake Ariel.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Hamlin Community 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 $3.76 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 $142K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $536K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $142K 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 3,211 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 Township | Hamlin Community Library fine-free | — | 35 | B |
| Sterling Township | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| Greene Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Lake Wallenpaupack Estates | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Indian Rocks | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Paupack Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Jefferson Township | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| The Escape | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Lake Township | None of its own | — | — | B |
| Palmyra Township | None of its own | — | — | A− |
| Madison 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. Hamlin Community Library serves 8,965 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. Hamlin Community Library, 518 Easton Turnpike, serves 8,965 people in and around Salem Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 35 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Hamlin Community 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 Township’s library?
It logged 1.7 visits and lent 3.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Salem Township’s civic life grade?
B Salem Township is ahead of 56% of U.S. towns on civic life, #278 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. 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.