Walking Box Ranch · Photo: Mindrangerdon · CC BY-SA 3.0Searchlight’s library is a branch of Las Vegas-Clark County Library District, which lends more per resident than 60% of systems its size
Searchlight’s library is the Searchlight Library, a branch of Las Vegas-Clark County Library District, which serves 1,721,851 people and lent 12M items last year.
The short version on Searchlight’s library
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 ↓
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 ↓
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; Searchlight’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 Searchlight branch.
What’s behind Searchlight’s civic life grade
Searchlight isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more.
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 →
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.
Find it
Searchlight Library, 200 Michael Wendell Way, Searchlight.
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 Searchlight? 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 $1.97 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Searchlight 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.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Searchlight 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 Searchlight
Does Searchlight have a public library?
Yes: Searchlight Library, 200 Michael Wendell Way, is a branch of Las Vegas-Clark County Library District, which serves 1,721,851 people. The branch is open about 30 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 Searchlight’s 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 Searchlight’s civic life grade?
Searchlight isn’t graded on civic life: TownRatings grades towns of 1,000 residents or more. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Searchlight.
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.