Your Library at Work: A Year in Numbers

Posted by duncana on 17 March 26

San Rafael Public Library Usage Report Shows Strong Community Engagement

San Rafael Public Library Usage Report | FY 2024–2025 Highlights

This past year was one of change, creativity, and deep community connection, and it showed in how you used your library. According to the Public Library Survey, collected annually by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to understand how library services are evolving nationwide, San Rafael Public Library remained a vital part of daily life across our city during fiscal year 2024–2025.  

Even as the Downtown Library operated from our temporary 4th Street Pop-Up location, our Pickleweed and Northgate branches continued to serve as active community hubs. Together, all three locations logged more than 6,200 open hours and welcomed over 162,000 in-person visits, ensuring library services stayed accessible and welcoming throughout San Rafael.  

In a city of nearly 60,000 residents, more than 32,000 library cardholders borrowed, learned, and explored with us. You checked out over 379,000 items across physical and digital collections, including books, audiobooks, movies, and e-materials, and made use of a collection of over 90,000 physical items. Our reach extended far beyond city limits, too, with over 41,000 interlibrary loan transactions, connecting San Rafael readers to resources from libraries across the region and beyond.

Programs brought people together in powerful ways. Library staff offered 503 programs, from storytimes and early-learning activities to author talks, workshops, and virtual events, drawing more than 17,400 attendees of all ages. Hundreds more participated in self-directed activities such as: Video Game Club, Lego Club, VR Saturdays, Mystery Maker Bags, Letter to My Future Self, and Valentine’s Day Card Making. 

Behind the scenes, these services were made possible by a team of dedicated staff, supported by 52 volunteers who contributed more than 6,800 hours of service. Staff answered over 39,000 questions, provided free public internet access, and supported more than 119,000 virtual visits to our website. 

Taken together, these numbers tell a powerful story, one shared by public libraries across the country and captured each year through the Public Library Survey. Whether you visited us at the 4th Street Pop-Up, stopped by Pickleweed or Northgate, joined a program, or connected with us online, you showed that the library is more than a building. It’s a shared community space powered by curiosity, learning, and connection. Thank you for being part of that story and for continuing to love your library.