Height of Land Portage · Photo: McGhiever · CC BY-SA 4.0White Township’s library lends 9.7 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Aurora Public Library serves 1,660 people in and around White Township. Last year it lent 18K books, movies and e-books and logged 11K visits.
The short version on White Township’s library
A small-town library
Aurora Public Library serves 1,660 residents with about 2 full-time staff, open about 37 hours a week. It’s compared only with libraries serving under 2,500 people, because per-person numbers always look big in a small town. A year at the library ↓
White Township invests in its library
Aurora Public Library spends $112 per resident a year, about twice the typical $54 for a library its size. Almost all of it (96%) 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind White Township’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, White Township is ahead of 57% of U.S. towns, #120 of 271 in Minnesota. White Township is graded on two of the three inputs. White Township’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 →
19 community nonprofits are registered in White Township
6.2 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 (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.1%
6.1% of White Township’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.4% in the typical Minnesota 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 White Township’s residents live; 2022.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
18K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 20K books and other items on the shelves went out about 0.8 time last year, on average.
1,498 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Aurora Public Library serves 1,660 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 9 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
50 programs a year
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
Find it
Aurora Public Library, 14 West Second Avenue No, Aurora.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in White Township? 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 $1.51 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average White Township cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $186K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $280K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $186K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 818 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| White Township | Aurora Public Library | 10.6 | 37 | B |
| Hoyt Lakes | Hoyt Lakes Public Library fine-free | 5.3 | 33 | B− |
| Biwabik | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Biwabik Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Embarrass Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| Colvin Township | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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 White Township
Does White Township have a public library?
Yes. Aurora Public Library, 14 West Second Avenue No, serves 1,660 people in and around White Township (the survey’s count) and is open about 37 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Aurora Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is White Township’s library?
It logged 6.6 visits and lent 10.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is White Township’s civic life grade?
B White Township is ahead of 57% of U.S. towns on civic life, #120 of 271 in Minnesota. 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 White Township.
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.