Aurora’s library is a branch of Beaufort-Hyde-Martin Regional Library, which lends less per resident than 90% of systems its size
Aurora’s library is the Hazel W. Guilford Memorial Library, a branch of Beaufort-Hyde-Martin Regional Library, which serves 60,152 people and lent 81K items last year.
What Aurora’s library is like
The Beaufort-Hyde-Martin Regional Library system is used less than most libraries its size
The Beaufort-Hyde-Martin Regional Library system records 1.2 visits per resident, against a typical 2.6 for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people. Borrowing is 0.9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.7. It also spends less than most: $15 per resident, against a typical $40. How it compares ↓
North Carolina pays a big share
38% of the budget comes from the state, and 56% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Kids’ books are most of what goes out
Children’s books and media make up 64% of print loans. Per resident, kids’ borrowing is lower than at 80% of similar-size libraries, so the high share mostly reflects light borrowing by adults. What people borrow ↓
Most programs are for young children
67% of the 1,108 programs last year were for ages 11 and under, including about 5.4 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; Aurora’s library is a branch of Beaufort-Hyde-Martin Regional Library, so they cover the whole system (60,152 people), not just the Aurora branch.
What’s behind Aurora’s civic life grade
Aurora isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Beaufort-Hyde-Martin Regional Library serves 60,152 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 5 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Beaufort-Hyde-Martin Regional Library system. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
81K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
24,114 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 14 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.
Find it
Hazel W. Guilford Memorial Library, 524 Main St., Aurora.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Beaufort-Hyde-Martin Regional Library branch.
New in Aurora? 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 $1.38 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Aurora cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $927K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.3M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $927K 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 22,772 cardholders ÷ 12.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Hazel W. Guilford Memorial Library is one branch of Beaufort-Hyde-Martin Regional Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 60,152 people it serves.
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: Hazel W. Guilford Memorial Library, 524 Main St., is a branch of Beaufort-Hyde-Martin Regional Library, which serves 60,152 people. The branch is open about 43 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Beaufort-Hyde-Martin Regional 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 Aurora’s library?
It logged 1.2 visits and lent 1.3 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Aurora’s civic life grade?
Aurora isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. 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.