The Aurora Hills Branch Library was founded in May, 1926 by the Jefferson Women's Club, housed in an unheated real estate office on Frazier Avenue (later S. 23rd Street), and only open one afternoon per week.
In May 1928, the Aurora Hills Garden Club took over running the Library of 500 books.
In June 1929, the Aurora Hills Library became the Nellie Custis P.T.A Library, and moved to the school.
In March 1930, the County Board of Supervisors purchased and remodeled a store at 506 S. 23rd and Eads Street, in part to be new home for Custis P.T.A. Library. The Library eventually became known as Aurora Hills/Martha Morton Duncan Memorial, in honor of a board member's mother. One of the Library's earliest volunteers recalled that when she moved to the neighborhood in 1935, one joined the Library by donating a book.
In November 1934, County Manager Roy S. Braden asked several interested residents to help in an effort to better support Arlington's existing libraries, and in July 1936, the Department of Libraries was established. The County Board voted $3000 for libraries in County budget and the Department of Libraries became an official County bureau to be run by a County Librarian. The five libraries - Arlington Community, Aurora Hills, Cherrydale, Clarendon and Glen Carlyn - became part of a system serving a County with a population of 40,000 and 74 farms. Funds were allocated so each library received $250 to buy two encyclopedias and an unabridged dictionary as well as other tools.
By 1949, the Duncan Library - now known as Aurora Hills - had expanded into all of the 506 S. 23rd St building, doubling its floor and shelf space.
In 1969, a bond referendum for new Aurora Hills branch building was approved, and the current Aurora Hills Branch Library building opened on Dec. 12, 1977.
The new facility, at 735 S. 18th St, is nine times larger than the previous branch building, and was dedicated on February 26, 1978. Today, the building houses the Library and the Aurora Hills Senior Center.
