Alameda County Library

Last updated

Alameda County Library
Alameda County Library (logo).png
Location Alameda, California
Established1910
Branches11
Collection
Size1,115,484 items
Access and use
Circulation6,796,800
Population served589,666
Other information
Budget$40,531,136
Website http://www.aclibrary.org [1] [2]

The Alameda County Library, in Alameda County, California, is a public library system that provides services from eleven branch libraries in the cities of Albany, Dublin, Fremont, Newark and Union City and the unincorporated communities of Castro Valley, Cherryland and San Lorenzo. According to 2005/2006 statistics, the total service area represents a population of about 522,000, and annual circulation is reported to be around 5.5 million. [3] [ needs update ] Its headquarters are located in Fremont. [4]

Contents

The County Library was established in 1910 and is governed by the Alameda County Board of Supervisors. The Alameda County Library Advisory Commission advises the County Librarian and the Board of Supervisors on library services.

Funding

The County Library is funded primarily by local property taxes, with additional revenue from state grants and contracts with cities for additional open hours and services. Service in unincorporated areas is funded in part by a utility users and business license tax collected in unincorporated areas, and allocated by the Board of Supervisors. The Alameda County Library Foundation and Friends or Library League groups support library programs and services in each community.

Branches

The Alameda County Library branch in Dublin. Dublin,CAPublicLibrary11-26-04.jpg
The Alameda County Library branch in Dublin.

As of 2022, the Alameda County Library has eleven branch libraries.

Castro Valley

The Castro Valley Library serves approximately 60,000 residents in the unincorporated area of Castro Valley, California.

History

The original Castro Valley Library was first opened in 1927 on Castro Valley Blvd, in a water tank owned by the Booth family. It later moved to another building, at 20055 Redwood Road, which was designed by architects Wahamaki and Corey. That building opened in 1962 with a collection of over 23,000 items, at a cost of $230,000. The current collection is approximately 100,000 items. A new replacement library opened on October 31, 2009 at 3600 Norbridge Ave. The new library has been funded by a combination of state bond (13.9 million) and public support for a total cost of $22,276,464. The architect for the project is Noll and Tam, Berkeley, California. The contractor for the new building is W.A. Thomas, Inc., Martinez, California. A groundbreaking ceremony was held April 18, 2008.

Services and programs

The Alameda County Library Bookmobile is a library on wheels with books, magazines, music CDs, CDROMs, videos, DVDs and books on cassette and CD for children, teens, and adults. The bookmobile visits schools and neighborhoods once every two weeks.

Youth services

Adult services

Jail services

Alameda County Library provides library service and literacy/life skills instruction to men and women held in county jails. Most of the materials circulated each year are donated by members of the community.

Community languages

Alameda County Library collects languages that support the community demographics. A Community Language Committee was formed to identify the needs of communities and sustain a balanced collection of international languages.

The library actively collects works in the following languages:

Timeline

Awards

Write to Read

Sources

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fremont, California</span> City in California, United States

Fremont is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. Located in the East Bay region of the Bay Area, Fremont has a population of 230,504 as of 2020, making it the fourth most populous city in the Bay Area, behind San Jose, San Francisco, and Oakland. It is the closest East Bay city to the high-tech Silicon Valley network of businesses, and has a strong tech industry presence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alameda County, California</span> County in California, United States

Alameda County is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,682,353, making it the 7th-most populous county in the state and 21st most populous nationally. The county seat is Oakland. Alameda County is in the San Francisco Bay Area, occupying much of the East Bay region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hayward, California</span> City in California, United States

Hayward is a city located in Alameda County, California, United States, in the East Bay subregion of the San Francisco Bay Area. With a population of 162,954 as of 2020, Hayward is the sixth largest city in the Bay Area, and the third largest in Alameda County. Hayward was ranked as the 34th most populous municipality in California. It is included in the San Francisco–Oakland–San Jose Metropolitan Statistical Area by the US Census. It is located primarily between Castro Valley, San Leandro and Union City, and lies at the eastern terminus of the San Mateo–Hayward Bridge. The city was devastated early in its history by the 1868 Hayward earthquake. From the early 20th century until the beginning of the 1980s, Hayward's economy was dominated by its now defunct food canning and salt production industries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newark, California</span> City in California, United States

Newark is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. It was incorporated as a city in September 1955. Newark is an enclave, surrounded by the city of Fremont. The three cities of Newark, Fremont, and Union City make up the Tri-City Area. Newark's population was 47,529 at the 2020 census making it the third largest city in the US named Newark after Newark, New Jersey, and Newark, Ohio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AC Transit</span> Public transit operator in Alameda County and Contra Costa County, California

AC Transit is an Oakland-based public transit agency serving the western portions of Alameda and Contra Costa counties in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. AC Transit also operates "Transbay" routes across San Francisco Bay to San Francisco and selected areas in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. AC Transit is constituted as a special district under California law. It is governed by seven elected members. It is not a part of or under the control of Alameda or Contra Costa counties or any local jurisdictions.

The Edmonton Public Library(EPL) is a public library system in the city of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Library cards are free to all Edmontonians; as part of its centennial in 2013, the Edmonton Public Library eliminated membership fees. University of Alberta and MacEwan University students receive free access through the L-Pass program.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eden Township, Alameda County, California</span> Former civil township

Eden Township is a former township of Alameda County, California in the San Francisco Bay Area region, which includes the present-day cities of Hayward and San Leandro, as well as the unincorporated census-designated areas of Ashland, Castro Valley, Cherryland, Fairview, and San Lorenzo. It was created from a group of Mexican land grants that were added to Alameda County when the county was established in 1853. Today there are several public and private agencies serving the region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LA County Library</span> Public library system in California

LA County Library is one of the largest public library systems in the United States which serves residents living in 49 of the 88 incorporated cities of Los Angeles County, California. United States, and those living in unincorporated areas resulting in a service area extending over 3,000 square miles (7,800 km2). The LA County Library system provides local libraries to several unincorporated areas and cities across Los Angeles County, and is not to be confused with the Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) system, which serves areas within the city of Los Angeles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Area codes 510 and 341</span> Area codes covering Oakland and the East Bay of California

Area codes 510 and 341 are telephone area codes in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) serving much of the East Bay in the U.S. state of California. They cover parts of Contra Costa County and western Alameda County, including the city of Oakland, but excluding Dublin, Livermore, Pleasanton, and Sunol.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santa Clara County Library District</span> Public library system in California, United States

The Santa Clara County Library District is a public library system for Santa Clara County headquartered in Campbell, California. The library serves the communities and cities of Campbell, Cupertino, Gilroy, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Milpitas, Monte Sereno, Morgan Hill, Saratoga, and all unincorporated areas of Santa Clara County. Other cities in Santa Clara County run their own library systems. In addition to these libraries, the library provides mobile library service with a bookmobile which visits preschools, retirement communities, migrant farmworker camps, and rural communities without easy access to library services. In 2020, SCCLD also launched a new website featuring a 24/7 online library.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Centerville Pioneer Cemetery</span> State cemetery in Fremont, California, United States

The Centerville Pioneer Cemetery, also known as the Centerville Presbyterian Cemetery or Alameda Presbyterian Cemetery, is located at the corner of Post Street and Bonde Way in Fremont, California. It was officially designated as a state cemetery in 1858 or 1859, depending upon the source, and was listed in the California Register of Historic Resources in 1976.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alachua County Library District</span> Public library in Florida

The Alachua County Library District (ALCD) is an independent special taxing district and the sole provider of public library service to approximately 280,000 citizens of Alachua County, Florida. This includes all of the incorporated municipalities in the county. It maintains a Headquarters Library and four other branches in Gainesville. There are branch locations in seven of the eight other incorporated municipalities in the county. ACLD also operates a branch at the county jail, and two bookmobiles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Miami-Dade Public Library System</span> Public library system in Florida

The Miami-Dade Public Library System (MDPLS) is a system of libraries in Miami-Dade County, Florida.

Joshua Francis Chadbourne was born in Centerville, California and died in Fremont, California. He was a businessman who opened the first auto mechanic shop between Hayward, California and San Jose, California in Irvington, California. He also owned a large apricot orchard in Irvington. Chadbourne Elementary School was named after him, as the benefactor of the land for the school.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irvington station (BART)</span> Planned infill stop in Fremont, California

Irvington is a planned Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) infill station in the Irvington District of Fremont, California. As of November 2023, estimates from the city anticipated construction to begin in mid-2026, with the station opening for service in 2031.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hayward Area Recreation and Park District</span>

The Hayward Area Recreation and Park District (H.A.R.D.) is the park management agency for most of the parks in the city of Hayward, California. It was created in 1944 and is an independent special district under California law. H.A.R.D. is the largest recreation district in California. It also manages parks in the bordering unincorporated communities of Castro Valley, San Lorenzo, Fairview, Ashland and Cherryland. It manages the park grounds for numerous schools in the region. Events and classes are scheduled and listed in a quarterly brochure. The parks' 2021 budget is $24,306,495.

Monroe County Public Library (MCPL) serves the 138,000 citizens of Monroe County, Indiana, through the Main Library in downtown Bloomington, the Ellettsville Branch, and the Bookmobile. The library’s special services include the Learn and Play Space, a preschool discovery center; VITAL, an adult literacy program; CATS, a five-channel community access television network; the Indiana Room, a local history and genealogy collection and grants center (part of the Foundation Center’s Cooperating Collections National Network); and service to inmates at the Monroe County Correctional Center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hayward Area Historical Society</span>

Hayward Area Historical Society (HAHS) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to documenting the history of the city of Hayward, California and adjacent communities. These areas include San Lorenzo, Ashland, Cherryland, Castro Valley, Fairview, the former communities of Russell City, Mount Eden, Schafer Park, and other parts of unincorporated Alameda County. The society was founded in 1956. Their museum in Downtown Hayward closed in 2012. Their new facility opened nearby in 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dumbarton Rail Corridor</span> Passenger Rail Line

The Dumbarton Rail Corridor is a proposed transbay passenger rail line which would reuse the right-of-way that was initially constructed from 1907–1910 as the Dumbarton Cut-off. The Dumbarton Cut-off includes the first structure to span San Francisco Bay, the 1910 Dumbarton Rail Bridge, although the vintage Cut-off bridges would likely be replaced prior to activating new passenger service. Dumbarton Rail Corridor would provide service between Union City in the East Bay and Menlo Park on the Peninsula, with train service continuing to both San Francisco and San José along the existing Caltrain tracks. It has been in the planning stages since 1988, and would be the first above-ground transbay rail line since Key System electric trains stopped running on the lower deck of the Bay Bridge in 1958, and the first new transbay crossing of any kind since the completion of the Transbay Tube in 1974.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Washington Township Museum of Local History (Fremont, California)</span> Historical museum located in Fremont, California

Washington Township Museum of Local History is a historical museum located in Fremont, California. The two historical organizations, the Mission Peak Heritage Foundation (MPHF) and Washington Township Historical Society (WTHS), formed the Museum of Local History Guild to focus on education, archival research and preservation of the historical resources of Washington Township. The Washington Township was created in 1853 from the southwestern part of Alameda County. For many decades, Washington Township consisted of agricultural fields dotted with eight towns, many now part of Fremont and some with local historians publishing their stories. The eight towns were the town of Newark, the two towns that became Union City, viz., Alvarado and Decoto, and the five towns that became Fremont, viz., Centerville, Niles, Mission San Jose, Irvington, and Warm Springs.

References

  1. Alameda County Library budget presentation 2020-2021 . Retrieved on 2023-04-18.
  2. Libraries count! Fiscal year 2014-2015 annual statistics . Retrieved on 2016-11-23.
  3. Alameda County Library Annual Report - 05/06 Archived 2008-10-26 at the Wayback Machine . Retrieved on 2007-10-10.
  4. "Library Administration Archived 2010-04-10 at the Wayback Machine ." Alameda County Library. Retrieved on April 1, 2010.
  5. Alameda County Library (June 10, 2019). "Alameda County Library is Going Fine-Free". PR NewsWire. Retrieved June 11, 2023.