The Marin County Free Library is a special district within County government
and has been in existence since 1927. Since this time, the County Library has
established a network of regional and branch libraries: the Civic Center headquarters
in San Rafael; regional libraries in the communities of Corte Madera, Fairfax,
and Novato; and branch libraries in Bolinas, Inverness, Marin City, South Novato,
Point Reyes Station, San Geronimo Valley, and Stinson Beach. A bookmobile provides
additional service to isolated communities, schools, and residential facilities.
Library staffing includes 108 permanent employees, assisted by 200 volunteers
who contribute almost 10,000 hours each year.
MCFL serves approximately 140,000 residents within its jurisdictional area.
The MARINet (Marin Automated Resources and Information Network) consortium joins
the County Library with independent local public libraries in Belvedere-Tiburon,
Larkspur, Mill Valley, San Anselmo, San Rafael, and Sausalito, hosting a cooperative
circulation and catalog system through which Marin residents may access materials
and shared electronic resources.
Over 1.4 million items are borrowed annually from MCFL branches hosting 1,080,000
patron visits. MCFL's collection includes over 426,000 books, 22,000 audio materials,
23,000 video/DVD items, as well as numerous magazines, newspaper subscriptions,
and microfilm reels. Besides circulating materials, the Library provides reference,
teen, and children's services, a local history room, digital archive, and a
literacy program jointly operated with the San Rafael Public Library. The Library
also supports outreach services, which include home delivery to seniors and
the disabled and depository collections in convalescent homes. There are Spanish
language collections in several branches and a collection of Russian materials
at the Civic Center. The Library also takes pride in its comprehensive eServices
component, which provides for a variety of information needs, including 24/7
virtual reference and subscription databases accessible through the Library's
website at http://www.co.marin.ca.us/library.
There are a total of eleven facilities in the MCFL system, excluding literacy
services. The Civic Center Library, located under the dome of the historic Frank
Lloyd Wright Civic Center, serves as the Library's main branch. It contains
over 92,000 circulating and reference volumes and is home to the Anne T. Kent
California History Room, the resources of which include books, maps, photographs,
oral histories, biography files, early Marin County voter registers, clippings
and ephemera. Adjacent to the Civic Center branch are the offices of Library
Administration. Operating from the facilities of the South Novato branch are
the Library's Technical Services Department and the North Marin Literacy Office.
The Library owns four of the library facilities and seven are leased public,
private, or commercial space. Additional space is leased in Olema for the West
Marin Literacy Office. The oldest facility in the MCFL system, constructed in
1893, is the Inverness Library, which houses Jack Mason Museum in the former
home of this West Marin historian. The newest facility, the Marin City Library,
was built in the Gateway Shopping Center in 1997. Branches range in size from
1,074 sq. ft. in the Bolinas Library to 12,700 sq. ft. in the combined library
facilities at the Civic Center.
The County's recent Satisfaction Survey identified the library as the program
most used by Marin residents in the past year. The same survey ranked maintaining
library services as the second most important County program. Public perception
showed the library to be a high-profile, high-importance, and high-satisfaction
service, similar to that of law enforcement, preventing wildfires, and conducting
elections.
A 2005 survey of 2,000 individuals visiting MCFL branches documented patrons
as dedicated and frequent users, 62% living within 3 miles and 64% visiting
the library at least once a week. 19% of those surveyed in the library were
seniors, 10% were age 12 and under, and 6% were teens. According to the 2000
Census, our user demographics and those we surveyed mirror the community in
which we serve. Material circulation continues to be our core function. Preliminary
research indicates the Library has a growth opportunity to increase awareness
and utilization of virtual services. In future years our libraries may need
to respond more as community centers, supporting activities such as tutoring,
personal research, study, recreational reading, and facility use.
