Jethro Wood House · Photo: Lvklock · CC BY-SA 3.0Ledyard’s library lends 8.8 print items per resident, against a typical 3.9 for libraries its size
Aurora Free Library serves Ledyard’s 1,655 residents. Last year it lent 17K books, movies and e-books and logged 8,823 visits.
Ledyard’s library, in brief
Mostly paid for by gifts, not taxes
63% of the library’s income comes from gifts, endowments, fees and other sources, not taxes. Local taxes cover 36%. What your card is worth ↓
More than half the print loans are for kids
Children’s books and media are 63% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 91% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 32 items per child in Ledyard last year. Kids & programs ↓
A small-town library
Aurora Free Library serves 1,655 residents with about one full-time staff. 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 ↓
Open only about 20 hours a week
Aurora Free Library keeps short hours: about 20 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Programs draw a crowd
5,879 people came to the library’s 234 programs last year: 3.6 per resident, against a typical 0.7, more than at 95% of similar-size libraries. 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; in a town this small, one busy program or a few avid readers move the per-resident numbers.
What’s behind Ledyard’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Ledyard is ahead of 85% of U.S. towns. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups 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 →
9 community nonprofits are registered in Ledyard
5.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: education.
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 (2 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
10.0%
10.0% of Ledyard’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 Ledyard’s residents live; 2022.
About 3 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 Ledyard last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving under 2,500 people across the U.S.
Aurora Free Library serves 1,655 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving under 2,500.
Every hour the doors are open, about 17 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
More than half the print loans are kids’ books
17K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 11K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.3 time last year, on average.
2,729 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Find it
Aurora Free Library, 370 Main Street, Aurora.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Ledyard? 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 $1.72 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Ledyard cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $54. Operating budget $178K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $307K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $178K 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 684 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Ledyard borrows the most per resident of the 3 towns here. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ledyard | Aurora Free Library fine-free | 10.5 | 20 | A |
| Springport | Springport Free Library fine-free | 7.7 | 28 | A |
| Venice | Hazard Library Association fine-free | 1.8 | 26 | B |
| Romulus | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Varick | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Genoa | None of its own | — | — | A |
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 Ledyard
Does Ledyard have a public library?
Yes. Aurora Free Library, 370 Main Street, serves Ledyard’s 1,655 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 20 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Aurora Free 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 Ledyard’s library?
It logged 5.3 visits and lent 10.5 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.5 visits for libraries serving under 2,500 people.
What is Ledyard’s civic life grade?
A Ledyard is ahead of 85% of U.S. towns on civic life. 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 Ledyard.
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.