April 15, 2025
Library and Community Services
DATE: April 15, 2025
TO: Mayor Martinez and Members of the City Council
FROM:
LaShonda White, Deputy City Manager of Community
Services
Kate Eppler, Deputy Director of Community Services-
Library
Subject:
Accept and Appropriate Pacific Library Partnership Grant for Cooperative Library Lending through Link+ System
FINANCIAL IMPACT: Grant funds of $3,174 will supplement General Fund expenditures of $15,988 in platform and catalog
subscriptions (01241055-400263) and about $15,500 in
courier costs (01242855-400290).
PREVIOUS COUNCIL
ACTION:
June 4, 2024
STATEMENT OF THE
ISSUE:
The Richmond Public Library has been granted $3,174
from the Pacific Library Partnership to support Link+
lending services which allows library patrons to request and borrow books from other California libraries at no
cost to the patron.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
ADOPT a resolution to ACCEPT and APPROPRIATE
into the Fiscal Year 2024-2025 Library budget a Pacific Library Partnership grant for Link+ in the amount of
$3,174, allowing Richmond Public Library patrons
access to borrow books from other California libraries at no cost - Community Services Department (LaShonda
White 510-620-6828/Kate Eppler 510-620-5452).
AGENDA
REPORT
April 15, 2025
DISCUSSION:
The Pacific Library Partnership (PLP) has allocated California Library Services Act funding for costs related to resource sharing between libraries. As a PLP library, the Richmond Public Library has been allocated $3,174 for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024- 2025 (Attachment 1). The Richmond Public Library intends to use these funds to offset the costs of delivery of materials among member libraries via a system known as Link+.
The Link+ lending system is comprised of more than 70 academic and public libraries, primarily located in California. Cardholders at Richmond Public Library can request items from any participating Link+ library. The requested books are then delivered via courier service to a Richmond Public Library location, where they can be borrowed and returned.
PLP is a cooperative of four library systems: Bay Area Library and Information System (BALIS), serving Alameda, Contra Costa, and San Francisco Counties; Peninsula Library System (PLS), serving San Mateo County; Monterey Bay Area Cooperative Library System (MOBAC), serving Monterey, Santa Cruz, and San Benito Counties; and Silicon Valley Library System (SVLS), serving Santa Clara County. PLP administers California Library Services Act funds to support the cost of providing communications and delivery services to member libraries. The California Library Services Act facilitates equal access to library resources, with a specific focus on underserved communities.
In FY 2023-2024, Richmond Public Library was allocated the larger sum of $8,130 to support Link+ borrowing. The lower amount of $3,174 available for FY 2024-2025 is the result of state budget cuts to the California Library Services Act, which has reduced the funds PLP has available to distribute (Attachment 2).
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
Attachment 1 – Resolution
Attachment 2 – Claim Form