Photo: Michael Walter, a.k.a. Cuppysfriend · CC BY-SA 3.0Auburn’s library lends 9.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Eckhart Public Library serves 14,374 people in and around Auburn from 3 locations. Last year it lent 181K books, movies and e-books and logged 68K visits.
What Auburn’s library is like
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 56% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 91% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
The branch is a National Register landmark
Eckhart Public Library and Park has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1981. Today’s library there has 15,000 square feet. The buildings ↓
A system of heavy borrowers
Eckhart Public Library lends 9.6 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, more than 89% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
Big on e-books and audiobooks
Digital borrowing runs 3 e-items per resident, against a typical 1.1, higher than at 88% of similar-size libraries. It’s 24% of all loans. What people borrow ↓
A well-funded system
Eckhart Public Library spends $121 per resident a year, about three times the typical $43 for a library its size. Almost all of it (88%) comes from local taxes. What your card is worth ↓
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; Eckhart Public Library serves 14,374 people in and around Auburn, and its numbers cover all of them.
What’s behind Auburn’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Auburn is ahead of 78% of U.S. towns, #150 of 571 in Indiana. Auburn’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
103 community nonprofits are registered in Auburn
7.6 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 (27 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 3 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.4%
7.4% of Auburn’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 9.1% in the typical Indiana 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 6 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Eckhart Public Library serves 14,374 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 31 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Eckhart Public Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
181K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
43,380 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
A National Register landmark since 1981
Eckhart Public Library, 603 South Jackson Street, 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. Good at every Eckhart Public Library branch.
New in Auburn? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Eckhart Public Library and Park
Eckhart Public Library and Park was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Nov 20, 1981. It is significant for its education, architecture and social history at the local level.
Eckhart Public Library and Park is a historic library building and public park located at Auburn, Indiana. The library was built in 1911, and is a two-story, glazed brick building with Bungalow / American Craftsman design elements. It has a gable roof, round arched windows, and sits on a raised basement faced with Bedford limestone. The library and park were donated by Charles Eckhart.
More about the building →Other Eckhart Public Library branches in Auburn
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.62 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Auburn cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1.7M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.8M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.7M 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 5,696 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Eckhart Public Library serves 14,374 people in and around Auburn, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Auburn.
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. Eckhart Public Library, 603 South Jackson Street, serves 14,374 people in and around Auburn (the survey’s count) and is open about 56 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Eckhart 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 4.7 visits and lent 12.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Auburn’s civic life grade?
A− Auburn is ahead of 78% of U.S. towns on civic life, #150 of 571 in Indiana. 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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.