Photo: Nyttend · Public domainAurora’s library is a branch of Portage County District Library, which lends more per resident than 50% of systems its size
Aurora’s library is the Aurora Memorial Branch, a branch of Portage County District Library, which serves 106,087 people and lent 410K items last year.
What Aurora’s library is like
Ohio pays a big share
45% of the budget comes from the state, and 51% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Fewer visits than most libraries its size
The Portage County District Library system records 1 visits per resident, against a typical 2.1 for libraries serving 100,000+ people, below 90% of similar-size libraries. Borrowing holds up better, at 3.1 print items per resident. How it compares ↓
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 Portage County District Library, so they cover the whole system (106,087 people), not just the Aurora branch.
What’s behind Aurora’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Aurora is ahead of 47% of U.S. towns, #568 of 914 in Ohio. Aurora is graded on two of the three inputs. Aurora’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 →
75 community nonprofits are registered in Aurora
4.2 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 (10 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
6.9%
6.9% of Aurora’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 8.5% in the typical Ohio 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.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 3 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Portage County District Library serves 106,087 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 25 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Portage County District Library system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
410K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
78,714 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 12 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
Aurora Memorial Branch, 115 E. Pioneer Trail, 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. Good at every Portage County District 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 $1.50 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Aurora cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $4.3M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $6.4M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $4.3M 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 23,377 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aurora | Aurora Memorial Branch fine-free | — | 56 | B− |
| Streetsboro | Pierce Streetsboro Library fine-free | — | 56 | C+ |
| Bainbridge Township | Bainbridge Branch fine-free | — | 68 | A |
| Twinsburg Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Mantua Township | None of its own | — | — | B+ |
| Reminderville | None of its own | — | — | D |
| Bainbridge | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
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.
- System-wide. Aurora Memorial Branch is one branch of Portage County District Library, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 106,087 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: Aurora Memorial Branch, 115 E. Pioneer Trail, is a branch of Portage County District Library, which serves 106,087 people. The branch is open about 56 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Portage County District 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 Aurora’s library?
It logged 1.0 visits and lent 3.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Aurora’s civic life grade?
B− Aurora is ahead of 47% of U.S. towns on civic life, #568 of 914 in Ohio. 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.