Photo: Rivers Langley SaveRivers · CC BY-SA 3.0Auburn’s library lends 6.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7 for libraries its size
Auburn Public Library serves Auburn’s 80,006 residents. Last year it lent 665K books, movies and e-books and logged 145K visits.
What Auburn’s library is like
Programs are almost all for children
84% of the 1,068 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 10 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
People borrow more than they stay
Borrowing per resident is higher than at 76% of similar-size libraries, but visits are lower than at 69%. People come in, pick up their books and go. How it compares ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 64% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 86% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 22 items per child in Auburn last year. Kids & programs ↓
The shelves work hard
Each of the 84,000 items on the shelves went out about 6.4 times last year, on average. What people borrow ↓
Open about 68 hours a week
Auburn Public Library is open about 68 hours a week, averaged over the year. Every hour the doors are open, about 188 items go out. The building ↓
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 Auburn’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Auburn is ahead of 24% of U.S. towns, #70 of 156 in Alabama. Auburn’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($48K–$80K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
304 community nonprofits are registered in Auburn
3.8 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 (85 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 9 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.1%
6.1% of Auburn’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 4.8% in the typical Alabama 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 Auburn’s residents live; 2022.
About 17 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 Auburn last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Auburn Public Library serves 80,006 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 188 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
665K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 84K books and other items on the shelves went out about 6.4 times last year, on average.
129,307 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Auburn Public Library, 749 East Thach Ave, Auburn.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Auburn? 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 $3.23 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Auburn cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $9.6M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $3M 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 24,067 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opelika | Opelika Public Library fine-free | 8.7 | 58 | B |
| Auburn | Auburn Public Library fine-free | 8.3 | 68 | C− |
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 Auburn
Does Auburn have a public library?
Yes. Auburn Public Library, 749 East Thach Ave, serves Auburn’s 80,006 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 68 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Auburn 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 Auburn’s library?
It logged 1.8 visits and lent 8.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Auburn’s civic life grade?
C− Auburn is ahead of 24% of U.S. towns on civic life, #70 of 156 in Alabama. 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 Auburn.
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.