Photo: Trevor Bexon · CC BY 2.0Reno’s library is a branch of Washoe County Library System, which lends less per resident than 61% of systems its size
Reno’s library is the Downtown Reno Library, a branch of Washoe County Library System, which serves 508,759 people and lent 2.3M items last year.
What Reno’s library is like
The branch is a National Register landmark
Washoe County Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2013. Today’s library there has 58,825 square feet. 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 63% of similar-size libraries. Print still makes up 57%, much of it kids’ books. What people borrow ↓
Six branches in Reno
Reno has six branches of the Washoe County Library System, which serves 508,759 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; Reno’s library is a branch of Washoe County Library System, so they cover the whole system (508,759 people), not just the Reno branch.
What’s behind Reno’s civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Reno is ahead of 47% of U.S. towns, #7 of 16 in Nevada. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #100. Reno is graded on two of the three inputs. The share of younger adults in volunteering groups holds the grade up; Reno’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 →
964 community nonprofits are registered in Reno
3.5 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 (180 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 38 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
7.7%
7.7% of Reno’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 Reno’s residents live; 2022.
A National Register landmark since 2013
Downtown Reno Library, 301 S Center St., Reno.
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 Washoe County Library System branch.
New in Reno? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Washoe County Library
Washoe County Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Feb 13, 2013. It is significant for its architecture and social history at the local level.
The Downtown Reno Library is the main library of the Washoe County Library System, at 301 S. Center St. in Reno, Nevada. It occupies a historic Modern-style building listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Washoe County Library. It is known also as the Downtown Library. It was designed by Hewitt Campau Wells in Modern style and was built in 1965.
More about the building →Other Washoe County Library System branches in Reno
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 100,000+ people across the U.S.
Washoe County Library System serves 508,759 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 100,000+.
Every hour the doors are open, about 110 items go out
Fiscal year 2024, for the whole Washoe County Library System system. The library’s own count.
43% of borrowing is digital
2.3M loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
1,005,285 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 45 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.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.30 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Reno cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $36. Operating budget $16M.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $36M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $16M 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 219,859 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reno | Downtown Reno Library fine-free | — | 40 | B− |
| Verdi | Verdi Community Library fine-free | — | 9 | — unincorporated |
| Sparks | Sparks Library fine-free | — | 51 | D |
| Lemmon Valley | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Mogul | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Cold Springs | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Golden Valley | None of its own | — | — | — unincorporated |
| Sun Valley | 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. Downtown Reno Library is one branch of Washoe County Library System, so the yearly numbers cover every branch and all 508,759 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 Reno
Does Reno have a public library?
Yes: Downtown Reno Library, 301 S Center St., is a branch of Washoe County Library System, which serves 508,759 people. The branch is open about 40 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Washoe County Library System 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 Reno’s library?
It logged 1.5 visits and lent 4.6 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 2.1 visits for libraries serving 100,000+ people.
What is Reno’s civic life grade?
B− Reno is ahead of 47% of U.S. towns on civic life, #7 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 Reno.
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. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.