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Our Foundation

Why your support matters…

Organizations need ongoing funding to thrive beyond basic operational needs. The Aurora Public Library’s operating budget is generated through property taxes. Less than 3 percent of your property tax bill is received by the library to meet its core operating needs. Philanthropic gifts to the Aurora Public Library Foundation enhance the library’s services and facilitates beyond what property taxes provide and help to make possible a library system that Aurora can be proud to utilize and share with others.

Testimonials we’d like to share from our Homebound patrons on “Why your support matters”

“I am disabled and walk with a walker. I have not had the joy of visiting the library. So I have had the library brought to me and it is literally the library brought to me! I get not only my choice of books, DVDs and CDs but also information from the internet in areas of nutrition-specific illnesses and other areas. I am so grateful for this service.”

“My heartfelt appreciation goes to the Outreach Services! I have books brought to me each month in good or bad weather. They have kept me–literally–alive and interested”

“One thing that I never anticipated when I became housebound was how small your world becomes. I called our library and before long, there was a librarian at my door with several tote bags full of books. Those books put me back into the world.”

Excerpts from essays the Foundation received from patrons about why they love the Aurora Public Library:

“Libraries keep me young in spirit and my brain very happy.”
“The library has given me a chance to read murder mysteries to pass the hours instead of watching TV all the time.”
“Whether it is a rainy day or a sunny one, I can find solace at my local library. It is more than a book repository. It is my home away from home.”
“When I went to the library, it didn’t matter if I was looking for medical texts, mysteries, an alternate history where killer robots won the Civil War, or even just a place to get out of the rain. I found it.”
“When I think of the Aurora Public Library, I think of it as a sweet buffet of learning.”
“The library means free movies, puzzles, books and programs. The library is the ‘everything burger’ with the emphasis on ‘everything.’”

(Pictured above is Outreach Services staff member Laura Gartman with a van that delivers books to the homebound, nursing homes and preschools. Donations to the Foundation helped to purchase the van.)