Photo: Mike McBey · CC BY 2.0Las Vegas’ library is a branch of Las Vegas-Clark County Library District, which lends more per resident than 60% of systems its size
Las Vegas’s library is the Sahara West Library, a branch of Las Vegas-Clark County Library District, which serves 1,721,851 people and lent 12M items last year.
What Las Vegas’s library is like
Nevada pays a big share
24% of the budget comes from the state, and 71% from local taxes. Nationally, most library money is local. What your card is worth ↓
Open about 66 hours a week
The Las Vegas branch is open about 66 hours a week, averaged over the year. The buildings ↓
43% of borrowing happens on a screen
E-books, e-audiobooks and streaming make up 43% of loans, more per resident than at 77% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 57%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
Eight branches in Las Vegas
Las Vegas has eight branches of the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District, which serves 1,721,851 people across the area. One card works at all of them, and at every other branch in the system. The buildings ↓
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; Las Vegas’s library is a branch of Las Vegas-Clark County Library District, so they cover the whole system (1,721,851 people), not just the Las Vegas branch.
What’s behind Las Vegas’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Las Vegas is ahead of 16% of U.S. towns, #10 of 16 in Nevada. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #243. Las Vegas is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Las Vegas’ count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($55K–$92K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
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 →
2,054 community nonprofits are registered in Las Vegas
3.1 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: human services.
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 (569 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 158 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
5.0%
5.0% of Las Vegas’ 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 Las Vegas’ residents live; 2022.
43% of borrowing is digital
12M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
4,935,274 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Las Vegas-Clark County Library District serves 1,721,851 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 172 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Las Vegas-Clark County Library District system. The library’s own count.
About 115 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.
8 places to borrow in Las Vegas
Sahara West Library, 9600 West Sahara Avenue, Las Vegas.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Las Vegas-Clark County Library District branch.
New in Las Vegas? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Las Vegas-Clark County Library District branches in Las Vegas
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $1.97 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Las Vegas cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $89M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $175M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $89M 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 559,414 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Las Vegas | Sahara West Library | — | 66 | C− |
| Sunrise Manor | Sunrise Library | — | 66 | — unincorporated |
| North Las Vegas | North Las Vegas Public Library | — | 36 | D− |
| Spring Valley | Spring Valley Library | — | 66 | — unincorporated |
| Paradise | Clark County Library | — | 66 | — unincorporated |
| Winchester | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Summerlin South | 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. Sahara West Library is one branch of Las Vegas-Clark County Library District, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 1,721,851 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 Las Vegas
Does Las Vegas have a public library?
Yes: Sahara West Library, 9600 West Sahara Avenue, is a branch of Las Vegas-Clark County Library District, which serves 1,721,851 people. The branch is open about 66 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Las Vegas-Clark County Library District 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 Las Vegas’ library?
It logged 2.2 visits and lent 6.7 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Las Vegas’ civic life grade?
C− Las Vegas is ahead of 16% of U.S. towns on civic life, #10 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 Las Vegas.
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.