Photo: Mountain Mike Johans… · CC BY 3.0Aurora’s library logs 1.4 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries its size
Aurora Public Library serves Aurora’s 394,380 residents from 7 locations. Last year it lent 1.1M books, movies and e-books and logged 561K visits.
What Aurora’s library is like
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 60% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 68% of similar-size libraries, so the high share mostly reflects light borrowing by adults. What people borrow ↓
Seven places to borrow in Aurora
Aurora Public Library runs seven locations, and one card works at all of them. The buildings ↓
76% of Aurora carry a library card
300,721 cards for 394,380 people, or 76%. At the typical library serving 100,000+ people, it’s 41%. 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.
What’s behind Aurora’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Aurora is ahead of 9% of U.S. towns, #91 of 104 in Colorado. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #298. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Aurora’s count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Aurora Public Library spends $18 per resident, against a typical $36 for libraries its size.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($66K–$110K) 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 →
1,080 community nonprofits are registered in Aurora
2.7 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (440 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 77 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
4.9%
4.9% of Aurora’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 6.8% in the typical Colorado 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 Aurora’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Aurora Public Library serves 394,380 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 60 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
1.1M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 244K books and other items on the shelves went out about 3.1 times last year, on average.
372,411 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 34 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 Aurora last year.
7 places to borrow in Aurora
Aurora Public Library Central Library, 14949 East Alameda Parkway, Aurora.
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 Aurora? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other libraries in Aurora
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.45 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Aurora cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $7M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $17M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $7M 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 300,721 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aurora | Aurora Public Library Central Library fine-free | 2.8 | 48 | D |
| Centennial | Smoky Hill Public Library fine-free | — | 69 | B− |
| Denver | Denver Public Library fine-free | — | 25 | B |
| Parker | Parker Library fine-free | — | 70 | C |
| Four Square Mile | Eloise May Branch fine-free | — | 69 | — unincorporated |
| Watkins | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Foxfield | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Aetna Estates | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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 Aurora
Does Aurora have a public library?
Yes. Aurora Public Library, 14949 East Alameda Parkway, serves Aurora’s 394,380 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 48 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Aurora 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 Aurora’s library?
It logged 1.4 visits and lent 2.8 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Aurora’s civic life grade?
D Aurora is ahead of 9% of U.S. towns on civic life, #91 of 104 in Colorado. 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 Aurora.
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.