Photo: Ken Lund from Reno, Nevada, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0Smith Valley’s library is a branch of Lyon County Library System, which lends less per resident than 77% of systems its size
Smith Valley’s library is the Smith Valley Library, a branch of Lyon County Library System, which serves 63,179 people and lent 139K items last year.
Smith Valley’s library, in brief
Open only about 21 hours a week
The Smith Valley branch keeps short hours: about 21 a week, averaged over the year, so check its schedule before you go. The building ↓
Runs on less money than most
The Lyon County Library System spends $14 per resident, less than 90% of similar-size libraries (typical: $40). What your card is worth ↓
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; Smith Valley’s library is a branch of Lyon County Library System, so they cover the whole system (63,179 people), not just the Smith Valley branch.
What’s behind Smith Valley’s civic life grade
Smith Valley isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Lyon County Library System, so there is no town figure for visits.
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 →
Volunteering in Smith Valley
Smith Valley is unincorporated, so its nonprofits aren’t counted: they file by mailing address, which doesn’t follow its boundary.
5.8%
5.8% of Smith Valley’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 Smith Valley’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
Smith Valley Library, 22 Day Lane, Smith Valley.
E-books and audiobooks from home. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy. Good at every Lyon County Library System branch.
New in Smith Valley? 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 Smith Valley 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.
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- System-wide. Smith Valley 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 Smith Valley
Does Smith Valley have a public library?
Yes: Smith Valley Library, 22 Day Lane, is a branch of Lyon County Library System, which serves 63,179 people. The branch is open about 21 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 Smith Valley’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 Smith Valley’s civic life grade?
Smith Valley isn’t graded on civic life: it’s unincorporated, so its nonprofits can’t be counted reliably (mailing addresses don’t follow its boundary) and its library is a branch of Lyon County Library System, so there is no town figure for visits. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Smith Valley.
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.