Solon Springs’ library is a branch of Superior Public Library, which lends more per resident than 53% of systems its size
Solon Springs’s library is the Solon Springs Joan Salmen Memorial Library Branch, a branch of Superior Public Library, which serves 44,435 people and lent 255K items last year.
What stands out about Solon Springs Joan Salmen Memorial Library Branch
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Solon Springs’ civic life grade
Solon Springs isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Superior Public Library serves 44,435 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 79 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Superior Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
255K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
79,287 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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
Solon Springs Joan Salmen Memorial Library Branch, 9240 E. Main St., Solon Springs.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Superior Public Library branch.
New in Solon Springs? 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 $2.47 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Solon Springs cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $1.6M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $3.9M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.6M 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 13,826 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Solon Springs Joan Salmen Memorial Library Branch is one branch of Superior Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 44,435 people it serves.
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 Solon Springs
Does Solon Springs have a public library?
Yes: Solon Springs Joan Salmen Memorial Library Branch, 9240 E. Main St., is a branch of Superior Public Library, which serves 44,435 people. The branch is open about 10 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Superior 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 Solon Springs’ library?
It logged 2.4 visits and lent 5.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Solon Springs’ civic life grade?
Solon Springs isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Solon Springs.
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.