Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Bookmobile Outreach topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Mountain View library spotlights Bookmobile outreach and Homebound Services
Summary
Library staff told trustees the Bookmobile and related outreach reached thousands this fiscal year — including school visits, senior-center stops and a corporate Google site — and outlined homebound deliveries and summer outreach plans amid staffing limits.
Renee Ting, manager of Youth Bookmobile and Collections at the Mountain View Public Library, and Bookmobile supervisor Rick Hanson told the Board of Library Trustees on April 20 that the system’s outreach programs have expanded service to schools, senior centers and community events while continuing homebound deliveries for residents who cannot visit the library.
Ting opened the presentation and handed the floor to Hanson, who described the Bookmobile’s community stops and use metrics. At a regular Google campus stop the Bookmobile has visited 33 times this fiscal year; Hanson said the team issued 59 new library cards there, served roughly 580 visitors and checked out more than 1,500 items at that single stop. Hanson also described work with nine elementary schools and two middle schools, saying one elementary (Stevenson) had nine visits this year with 776 students and 1,472 checkouts during those visits.
The presentation emphasized a mix of audiences: senior centers (Villa Siena, Avenidas Rose Kleiner Center), a day program for adults with disabilities (Hope Services), and signature community events such as the Monster Bash and Día de Muertos celebrations. Hanson said staff try to tailor programming at each stop — for example, crafts and bookmarks at schools — and to use bilingual staff and translation services (Hanna Translation Service) to reduce language barriers.
Hanson described the Homebound Services program that delivers library materials to residents’ doorsteps. He said the library has checked out 173 items through the homebound program this fiscal year, serves about 12 cardholders currently (the number has ranged from 8 to 13), and has completed 67 deliveries so far. Staff produced a short video explaining the service and provided a phone number (650-903-6887) for referrals.
Communications Librarian Katie Palm reported an 18% increase in outreach engagements year over year and supplied event metrics: 206 interactions at a Technology Showcase, 210 at National Night Out, 224 at a district back-to-school celebration, and 748 at the annual Monster Bash. The Bookmobile also issued high volumes of cards at certain corporate fairs; Katie said Google campus events can produce 60–80 card sign-ups in a single event.
Trustees pressed staff about marketing and priorities. Staff said outreach decisions are constrained by staffing: adding a stop often requires reallocating employees and can reduce capacity elsewhere. They described impact as a decision metric — weighing how many people a program reaches versus the depth of benefit (for example, an 18‑month credential for a participant vs. hundreds reached at a storytime).
Next steps and scheduling: the Bookmobile team plans Cuesta Park evening stops in summer (6–7 p.m. for about eight weeks) and will continue to refine summer scheduling; staff noted weather can force cancellations. The board did not take any formal action on program expansion at the April 20 meeting.
The board will hear budget requests and related project planning in the June budget cycle; staff said some expansions would require additional staffing or continuing the limited-period positions already requested for next fiscal year.
