Photo: Chris Flook · CC BY-SA 4.0Aurora’s library runs 35 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Aurora Public Library District serves 16,940 people in and around Aurora from 2 locations. Last year it lent 71K books, movies and e-books and logged 21K visits.
What stands out about Aurora Public Library District
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Aurora’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Aurora is ahead of 34% of U.S. towns, #446 of 571 in Indiana. Aurora is graded on two of the three inputs. Aurora’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups pulls it down.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($36K–$59K) 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 →
14 community nonprofits are registered in Aurora
3.9 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 (4 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.2%
6.2% of Aurora’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 Aurora’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 1993
Aurora Public Library District, 414 2nd Street, Aurora.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Aurora Public Library District branch.
New in Aurora? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Aurora Public Library
Aurora Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 27, 1993. It is significant for its education and architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Italian Renaissance.
The Aurora Public Library was first organized by voluntary contributions. When the town was incorporated in 1819 a lot on Fifth Street (then called Literary Street) was set aside for a public library, but it took time for enough funds to be raised for its establishment.
More about the building →Other Aurora Public Library District branches in Aurora
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Aurora Public Library District serves 16,940 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 12 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Aurora Public Library District system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
71K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
17,236 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.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.19 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Aurora cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $1M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1M 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 7,049 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 District fine-free | — | 49 | C |
| Center Township | Aurora Public Library District fine-free | — | 49 | C+ |
| Petersburg | Chapin Memorial Library fine-free | — | 48 | — under 1,000 residents |
| Lawrenceburg | Lawrenceburg Public Library District fine-free | — | 59 | B− |
| Lawrenceburg Township | Lawrenceburg Public Library District fine-free | — | 59 | B− |
| Hogan Township | None of its own | — | — | 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.
- System-wide. Aurora Public Library District serves 16,940 people in and around Aurora, so the yearly numbers cover all of them, not just Aurora.
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 District, 414 2nd Street, serves 16,940 people in and around Aurora (the survey’s count) and is open about 49 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Aurora Public Library District 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 1.3 visits and lent 4.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Aurora’s civic life grade?
C Aurora is ahead of 34% of U.S. towns on civic life, #446 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 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. 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.