Photo: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0Auburn’s library runs 33 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 14 for libraries its size
Auburn Public Library serves Auburn’s 27,590 residents. Last year it lent 144K print books and media and logged 84K visits.
What Auburn’s library is like
Auburn out-borrows every town next door
At 5.2 loans per resident, Auburn leads the five towns here. The closest is Poland, at 3.3. Libraries next door ↓
The library is a National Register landmark
Auburn Public Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1984. Today’s library there has 30,000 square feet. The building ↓
Most programs are for young children
68% of the 909 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 12 a week for ages 0–5. Kids & programs ↓
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 58% of U.S. towns, #77 of 143 in Maine. Auburn’s count of community nonprofits holds the grade up; library visits pull 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 →
115 community nonprofits are registered in Auburn
4.7 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 (16 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 4 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
8.0%
8.0% of Auburn’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 9.0% in the typical Maine 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 12 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 6 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Auburn Public Library serves 27,590 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 52 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
144K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 91K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.6 times last year, on average.
Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
A National Register landmark since 1984
Auburn Public Library, 49 Spring Street, Auburn.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. 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.
Auburn Public Library
Auburn Public Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Mar 22, 1984. It is significant for its architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Chateauesque and Romanesque.
Auburn Public Library is the public library of Auburn, Maine. It is located at 49 Spring Street.
More about the building →For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.60 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 $1.4M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.2M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $1.4M 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 7,746 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Auburn borrows the most per resident of the 5 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auburn | Auburn Public Library fine-free | 5.2 | 53 | B |
| Poland | Ricker Memorial Library | 3.3 | 50 | C |
| New Gloucester | New Gloucester Public Library fine-free | 2.9 | 36 | C+ |
| Lewiston | Lewiston Public Library fine-free | 2.3 | 50 | C |
| Greene | Julia Adams Morse Memorial Library fine-free | 2.2 | 33 | C |
| Minot | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Durham | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
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.
- Digital loans not reported. The library didn’t report e-book loans, so borrowing here is print only.
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, 49 Spring Street, serves Auburn’s 27,590 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 53 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 3.0 visits and lent 5.2 print 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?
B Auburn is ahead of 58% of U.S. towns on civic life, #77 of 143 in Maine. 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.