Lots of people write about Las Vegas, but that doesn’t mean people think of it as a literary kind of place. In fact, when I’ve mentioned how nice the public libraries are in Clark County to people elsewhere, they look at me with suspicion. How could a city full of illiterate gambling addicts possibly have a decent library system? Since they just don’t fit the stereotypes, the fabulous libraries of Las Vegas remain a surprisingly well-kept secret.

The first local library I visited was the Whitney branch on the east side of town. What a pretty contemporary building, I thought as I passed by its desert landscaping and entered its nicely appointed interior. As I visited more libraries around the valley, I found myself thinking this about every one of them. Each of the thirteen urban and eleven outlying branches has its own unique character—no cookie cutter designs in the bunch. They’re all different and all appealing, but one of my favorites is the Clark County Library on Flamingo Road. An imposing structure of rust-colored stone, this facility not only has everything you would expect to find in a well-equipped library, it also has two state-of-the-art theaters, two art galleries, and several meeting rooms.

Now that my own eyes have been opened to the wonders of Clark County libraries, I enjoy watching others experience them for the first time. Not long ago, I attended a talk held in a conference room at the library on Flamingo Road. The speaker, on a tour promoting his book about screenwriting, was from Los Angeles. As I waited for him to begin, I watched him take in his surroundings. The basilica-shaped room has a high ceiling with clerestory windows. An art exhibit lined the walls. Am I really in Las Vegas? I could almost hear him thinking. Later on, the author commented on how surprising he found it to be addressing a standing-room-only audience in Sin City. “In such a fabulous room,” he added, glancing around again. I couldn’t tell which surprised him more—that Las Vegans show up for book signings or that Las Vegas has some good architecture.

In addition to being lovely to behold, the libraries of Clark County have good general collections and a number of excellent specialized ones. The Las Vegas Library on north Las Vegas Boulevard, for example, has a remarkably extensive collection of books about gambling. (While I admit this does lend support to the stereotype that Las Vegas is full of gambling addicts, at least they’re not illiterate.)

All the branches have nice selections of audiobooks, DVDs, videos, and music. High speed Internet access is available, and the catalog is online. Interlibrary loan is speedy and convenient. Making everything run smoothly is a friendly, knowledgeable staff. Do public libraries get any better than this? All I can say is, I’ve never used public libraries more than since I came to Las Vegas.

But wait! There’s more! The cities of North Las Vegas, Henderson, and Boulder City have their own libraries. The University of Nevada boasts the Lied Library, a spectacular facility completed about two years ago. While the Lied Library’s primary mission is to provide services to UNLV students and faculty, Las Vegas locals can use the library, too. You can even check books out with a Clark County library card.

Perhaps, as more authors on book tours and bibliophilic tourists find themselves visiting Las Vegas libraries, word will spread about Sin City’s top-flight repositories of knowledge, but it’s okay with me if they stay a secret to the outside world. It’s hard enough to find a place to sit as it is.