Photo: Ben P L · CC BY-SA 2.0Salem’s library logs 6.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries its size
Salem City Library serves Salem’s 10,725 residents. Last year it lent 130K books, movies and e-books and logged 70K visits.
Salem’s library, in brief
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 74% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 95% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 19 items per child in Salem last year. Kids & programs ↓
Salem uses its library more than almost any town its size
Salem City Library logs 6.5 visits per resident, against a typical 3.1 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, and lends 8.6 print items per resident against a typical 3.9. On both counts it beats 86% of similar-size libraries across the U.S. How it compares ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3.5 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 ↓
The shelves work hard
Each of the 22,000 items on the shelves went out about 4.2 times last year, on average. 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.
What’s behind Salem’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Salem is ahead of 50% of U.S. towns, #17 of 106 in Utah. 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 →
24 community nonprofits are registered in Salem
2.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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.
7.4%
7.4% of Salem’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.2% in the typical Utah 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 4 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 6 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Salem City Library serves 10,725 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 56 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
130K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 22K books and other items on the shelves went out about 4.2 times last year, on average.
37,520 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 City Library, 59 South Main Street, 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 $5.51 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 $341K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $341K 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 4,030 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Salem ranks 2nd of 3 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spanish Fork | Spanish Fork Public Library | 14.7 | 52 | C+ |
| Salem | Salem City Library | 12.1 | 45 | B− |
| Payson | Payson City Library | 7.9 | 54 | C |
| Woodland Hills | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Elk Ridge | None of its own | — | — | D |
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. Salem City Library, 59 South Main Street, serves Salem’s 10,725 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 45 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Salem City 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 6.5 visits and lent 12.1 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 50% of U.S. towns on civic life, #17 of 106 in Utah. 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.