Palo Alto librarians describe expanded programs, outreach and services for underserved residents

Gayatri Kontin, director of Library Services, and library staff presented the Palo Alto libraries’ program and outreach work and answered commissioners’ questions during the Sept. 11 Human Relations Commission meeting.

Kontin said the libraries have expanded beyond traditional collections to serve as “community connectors,” providing public programs, technology access, and wellness services. She quoted a New York Times line during the presentation to describe the modern library’s role: “As local safety nets shriveled, the library roof magically expanded from umbrella to tarp to circus tent to airplane hangar,” which she used to emphasize the library’s expanded public-services role. Division head Julie Finkling reviewed cultural celebration programming and world-language collections; operations manager Alex Perez summarized operations and outreach to underserved patrons.

The presentation listed the libraries’ nontraditional “Library of Things” items (for example, Chromebooks, memory-care kits and park passes), the Vintage Media Lab for digitizing home media, robotics and virtual-reality programs, and an active AI education program. The libraries said they provide more than 15 world-language collections; Finkling gave item counts for the most-used languages in the presentation (Chinese, Spanish, Russian, Korean and French were listed as the largest collections). Recent community events included Diwali (about 350 attendees), Lunar New Year (about 650 attendees) and Nowruz in March (about 780 attendees), the presentation said.

Staff described services targeted at residents who face barriers: an ESL program (rebranded as Learn English) that includes weekly conversation groups and an 8-week “Beyond the Basics” course; Know Your Rights workshops for immigrant communities (events co-presented with community partners and county organizations); restarted homebound delivery (nine volunteers delivering to 27 homebound customers as of the presentation); and partnerships for mental-health first aid, tax-aid clinics, tenant-rights workshops and voter information. Staff said the Mitchell Park Library hosts many of the citizenship and immigrant-focused events, and that library staff collaborate with city departments and community nonprofits to refer people to services.

Commissioners praised the libraries’ outreach and suggested coordination between the Human Relations Commission and library cultural events. Commissioners also asked about challenges; Kontin and staff said state-level funding cuts and the broadening scope of services (including AI and technology education) are ongoing pressures and that volunteer recruitment is one strategy to expand capacity.

Staff encouraged commissioners to promote library programs and to raise specific collaboration requests; there were no public comments on the presentation.