Photo: Famartin · CC BY-SA 4.0Fernley’s library is a branch of Lyon County Library System, which lends less per resident than 77% of systems its size
Fernley’s library is the Fernley Branch Library, a branch of Lyon County Library System, which serves 63,179 people and lent 139K items last year.
What stands out about Fernley Branch Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Fernley’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Fernley is ahead of 60% of U.S. towns, #6 of 16 in Nevada. Fernley is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Fernley’s count of community nonprofits 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 →
55 community nonprofits are registered in Fernley
2.3 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 (12 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 1 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
13.2%
13.2% of Fernley’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.0% in the typical Nevada 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 Fernley’s residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 1 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people across the U.S.
Lyon County Library System serves 63,179 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 16 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Lyon County Library System system. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
139K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
32,711 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 4 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
Fernley Branch Library, 575 Silver Lace Blvd, Fernley.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Lyon County Library System branch.
New in Fernley? 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 $2.90 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Fernley cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $40. Operating budget $856K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $2.5M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $856K budget.
Late fines apply to some overdue items.
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 13,602 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fernley | Fernley Branch Library | — | 39 | B |
| Wadsworth | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
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. Fernley Branch Library is one branch of Lyon County Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 63,179 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 Fernley
Does Fernley have a public library?
Yes: Fernley Branch Library, 575 Silver Lace Blvd, is a branch of Lyon County Library System, which serves 63,179 people. The branch is open about 39 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Lyon County Library System fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
It charges late fines on some overdue items, and it lends e-books and audiobooks with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Fernley’s library?
It logged 3.4 visits and lent 2.2 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.6 visits for libraries serving 25,000 to 100,000 people.
What is Fernley’s civic life grade?
B Fernley is ahead of 60% of U.S. towns on civic life, #6 of 16 in Nevada. 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 Fernley.
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.