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San Mateo County Libraries touts record activity, highlights Half Moon Bay programs
Summary
San Mateo County Libraries told the Midcoast Community Council it served nearly 275,000 residents last year with 1.7 million visits, 2.4 million circulations and thousands of programs; county staff emphasized digital lending, hotspots and outreach including bookmobile stops on the coast.
The San Mateo County Libraries presented a 202425 annual report to the Midcoast Community Council on Jan. 28, outlining systemwide usage and local programming at the Half Moon Bay branch. Deputy Director Mary Ambler and Half Moon Bay Library manager Julie Smith described the system's strategic plan and outreach work.
Ambler said the system's service area covers roughly 351 square miles and about 275,000 residents, and that the libraries recorded roughly 1,700,000 visits and 2,400,000 item circulations in the last fiscal year. "We also had over 11,600 programs and events throughout the community," she said, noting a newly adopted five-year strategic plan for 20252030 to "listen, connect, discover and engage."
At the local level, Julie Smith highlighted Half Moon Bay programs that serve multiple age groups: established 55+ activities, outreach through Dolly Parton's Imagination Library for children ages 05, and the county bookmobile's stops in Moss Beach, Montara and El Granada. Smith invited residents to upcoming local events and noted an "Author Talk" scheduled for Feb. 21 featuring a local fisherman and forager.
Council members asked about the physical collection and digital services. Ambler said Foster City has the largest shelf footprint but that the system uses a floating collection and a healthy acquisitions budget; she added that donated books are not placed directly into branch collections but are handled by Friends groups who sell them to raise program funds. On digital lending, Ambler pointed to the Libby app, which can deliver ebooks and audiobooks to Kindles and other devices, and to Flipster and other platforms for magazines.
Ambler also listed a range of nonprint lending items available through the county's "library of things," from hotspots and Chromebooks to bicycles and ukuleles, and said hotspots were the most in-demand loaned item during the last fiscal year because of community connectivity needs.
The presentation concluded with an invitation to council members and residents to promote library services and to use the county's "suggest a purchase" form when patrons do not find a title in the catalog. The council thanked the presenters and noted that the library's materials and event links will remain available through the council's posted meeting materials.
