San Mateo County Libraries report rising visitors and program use; Woodside sees heavy local demand

Carmen Latona Adams, branch manager for the Woodside and Portola Valley libraries, presented the San Mateo County Libraries annual report to the Woodside Town Council on Jan. 25, reporting year-over-year increases in visits, circulation and program activity across the system and at the Woodside branch.

Latona Adams said the system recorded about 1,700,000 visitors countywide (up 16%), 2,400,000 items circulated (up 4%), and more than 10,300 events (up 36%). Website visits rose by 51% and Wi-Fi sessions increased by 14%. Systemwide laptop and hotspot lending increased by roughly 40% after the libraries bought more devices to meet demand.

Locally, Latona Adams said the Woodside branch recorded more than 56,000 visitors and more than 70,000 items checked out in the last fiscal year; the branch also logged approximately 55,000 digital downloads of ebooks, movies and audiobooks. She highlighted expanding senior and multilingual programming and community outreach efforts that she said helped double program attendance at Woodside.

"Our talented staff and wonderful volunteers create a welcoming atmosphere that inspires community and includes all," Latona Adams said during the presentation.

Council members praised the branch and asked several operational questions. A council member asked whether newspapers such as the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal are accessible through the library; Latona Adams said the New York Times online can be accessed with a library card and named titles available in-person at Woodside and Portola Valley. A council member also asked about the library's reserve funds; Latona Adams said Library Director Anne Marie has discussed possible uses including additional outposts like the Pacifica Sanchez 24/7 lending outpost and backup power generators for extended operations during outages, but Latona Adams said she had no concrete plan to spend down reserves to report at the meeting.

Latona Adams described several community-facing services: an outreach-driven strategic planning process that surveyed thousands of residents, partnerships delivering emergency support during storms with local agencies and PG&E, and a maker-mobile for off-site programs. She said 32 library staff speak languages other than English and that 500 volunteers contributed more than 25,000 hours countywide.

The council received the presentation; no vote was required.