Photo: Manda.L.Isch · Public domainAurora’s library lends 13 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Aurora Town Public Library serves Aurora’s 13,943 residents. Last year it lent 174K print books and media and logged 70K visits.
What Aurora’s library is like
Aurora out-borrows every town next door
At 13 loans per resident, Aurora leads the four towns here. The closest is Orchard Park, at 9.9. Libraries next door ↓
Aurora is a town of borrowers
Aurora Town Public Library lends 13 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people, more than 94% of similar-size libraries. Each item on the shelves went out about 5 times last year. What people borrow ↓
Top 10% in New York for kids’ borrowing
Aurora ranks #14 of 241 New York towns with a library of their own for children’s items borrowed per child. How it compares ↓
The shelves work hard
Each of the 35,000 items on the shelves went out about 5 times last year, on average. What people borrow ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 39% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 89% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 28 items per child in Aurora last year. 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 Aurora’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Aurora is ahead of 84% of U.S. towns, #103 of 751 in New York. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Aurora’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
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 →
84 community nonprofits are registered in Aurora
6.1 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 (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
8.8%
8.8% of Aurora’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.4% in the typical New York 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.
Books and media off the shelf
174K print loans last year. The library didn’t report its e-book and e-audiobook loans.
Each of the 35K books and other items on the shelves went out about 5 times last year, on average.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 4 of 7 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Aurora Town Public Library serves 13,943 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 71 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
About 1 kids’ program 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 Aurora last year.
Find it
Aurora Town Public Library, 550 Main Street, East Aurora.
No late fees. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
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 $4.88 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 $561K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.7M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $561K 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 11,146 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Aurora borrows the most per resident of the 4 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aurora | Aurora Town Public Library fine-free | 12.5 | 47 | A− |
| Orchard Park | Orchard Park Public Library fine-free | 9.9 | 55 | B |
| Elma | Elma Public Library fine-free | 9.2 | 44 | B+ |
| Marilla | Marilla Free Library fine-free | 7.5 | 33 | B |
| Wales | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Colden | None of its own | — | — | B− |
| Billington Heights | None of its own | — | — | — graded as part of its town |
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. New York libraries often don’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 Aurora
Does Aurora have a public library?
Yes. Aurora Town Public Library, 550 Main Street, serves Aurora’s 13,943 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 47 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Aurora Town Public Library fine-free?
Yes, no late fees (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Aurora’s library?
It logged 5.0 visits and lent 12.5 print 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?
A− Aurora is ahead of 84% of U.S. towns on civic life, #103 of 751 in New York. 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. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.