Photo: Tim Kiser (w:User:Malepheasant) · CC BY-SA 2.5Salem’s library is a branch of Clarksburg-Harrison Public Library, which lends less per resident than 80% of systems its size
Salem’s library is the Salem Public Library, a branch of Clarksburg-Harrison Public Library, which serves 52,405 people and lent 120K items last year.
What stands out about Salem Public Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Salem’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Salem is ahead of 56% of U.S. towns. Salem is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds 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 →
4 community nonprofits are registered in Salem
2.5 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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
11.0%
11.0% of Salem’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.9% in the typical West Virginia 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Clarksburg-Harrison Public Library serves 52,405 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
A year at Clarksburg-Harrison Public Library
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Clarksburg-Harrison Public Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
120K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
The survey has no count of children’s loans for Salem’s library in 2024, so there’s no split between adults’ and kids’ borrowing.
41,127 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 7 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
Salem Public Library, 23 Depot Street, Salem.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Clarksburg-Harrison 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 $2.27 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Salem cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $914K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $914K 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 16,912 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Salem Public Library is one branch of Clarksburg-Harrison Public Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 52,405 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 Salem
Does Salem have a public library?
Yes: Salem Public Library, 23 Depot Street, is a branch of Clarksburg-Harrison Public Library, which serves 52,405 people.
Is Clarksburg-Harrison 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 2.2 visits and lent 2.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Salem’s civic life grade?
B Salem is ahead of 56% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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.