Photo: Ken Lund from Las Vegas, Nevada, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0Sparks’ library is a branch of Washoe County Library System, which lends less per resident than 61% of systems its size
Sparks’s library is the Sparks Library, a branch of Washoe County Library System, which serves 508,759 people and lent 2.3M items last year.
What stands out about Sparks Library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Sparks’ civic life grade
On community nonprofits and volunteering, Sparks is ahead of 12% of U.S. towns, #13 of 16 in Nevada. Among the 385 U.S. cities over 100,000 we grade, it ranks #268. Sparks is graded on two of the three inputs. Both inputs sit below most U.S. towns; the share of younger adults in volunteering groups comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($67K–$111K) 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 →
215 community nonprofits are registered in Sparks
2.0 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 (58 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town. 9 more name a national or statewide reach and are left out.
6.3%
6.3% of Sparks’ 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 Sparks’ residents live; 2022.
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.
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.
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.
2 places to borrow in Sparks
Sparks Library, 1125 12th Street, Sparks.
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 Sparks? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Other Washoe County Library System branches in Sparks
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 Sparks 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sparks | Sparks Library fine-free | — | 51 | D |
| Reno | Downtown Reno Library fine-free | — | 40 | B− |
| Spanish Springs | 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. Sparks 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 Sparks
Does Sparks have a public library?
Yes: Sparks Library, 1125 12th Street, is a branch of Washoe County Library System, which serves 508,759 people. The branch is open about 51 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 Sparks’ 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 Sparks’ civic life grade?
D Sparks is ahead of 12% of U.S. towns on civic life, #13 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 Sparks.
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.