TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Philippe Eskandar, City Manager
BY: Eddie Covarrubias, Interim Community Services Director DATE: December 10, 2025
SUBJECT: RATIFICATION OF THE FY 2024-25 CALIFORNIA STATE
LIBRARY REPORT
STRATEGIC PLAN CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS
Efficient, Responsive, and Effective City Services
Fiscally Responsible and Transparent City Government
BACKGROUND
Each year, the California State Library requires all public libraries to submit an annual report. The California State Library Report summarizes financials, staffing, and programs/services offered by each public library. The data submitted acts as a tool for analysis among state libraries and can be used to support funding requests.
Pursuant to California Education Code §18927, the Library Board of Trustees is required to submit the California State Library Report to the City’s legislative body, the City Council. On October 27, the Library Board of Trustees voted to receive and file the Report and recommend it for ratification by the City Council.
DISCUSSION
Attachment 1 is Crowell Public Library’s submission for fiscal year (FY) 2024- 25 (July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025), which was submitted on October 23. In addition to the statistical report, the State Library provided a high-level infographic (Attachment 2) with some key data points. Some highlights of the report are:
Gretchen Shepherd Romey, Mayor
Tony Chou, Vice Mayor
Hunter Chang, Council Member
John Chou, Council Member
Calvin Lo, Council Member
• Library visits have increased; 215,673 visits were recorded in FY 2024- 25, compared to 210,365 in FY 2023-24. This is a 2.5% increase from the previous year. Staff believe this is a small step towards returning to pre-pandemic service levels.
• The number of questions answered at the Reference Desk increased; 9,424 questions were recorded in FY 2024-25, compared to 9,118 in FY 2023-24. This is a 3.4% increase from the previous year. Staff believe this is a small step towards returning to pre-pandemic service levels. • Circulation of Children’s materials increased; 84,461 children’s items circulated in FY 2024-25, compared to 71,363 in FY 2023-24. This is a
18.4% increase from the previous year. Staff believe this is due to recent weeding, the addition of new and popular titles (including VOX books), and the movement of the new books section to a more visible area.
• Digital circulation increased; 14,952 items circulated in FY 2024-25, compared to 13,865 in FY 2023-24. This is a 7.8% increase from the previous year. This is due to efforts by staff to curate a collection that the community wants to use, as well as procuring more copies of indemand items so wait times to not deter patrons. • Youth Services program participants increased; 5,144 participants in FY 2024-25, compared to 4,130 in FY 2023-24. This is a 24.5% increase from the previous year. This is due to an increase in the number of offsite outreach story times and number of young adult programs. • Total number of print materials held decreased; 73,851 materials in FY 2024-25 compared to 80,081 in FY 2023-24. This is a 7.8% decrease from the previous year. This is because staff completed a significant amount of weeding. In prior years, staffing capacity issues limited the amount of weeding that could be completed.
• Total number of adult programs and participants decreased; 94 programs and 1,438 participants in FY 2024-25 compared to 174 programs and 3,706 participants in FY 2023-24. This is due to the loss of the Brain Aerobics program starting in Fall 2024. This program previously occurred twice a week and had an average of 30 participants each time.
FISCAL IMPACT & PROCUREMENT REVIEW
There is no fiscal impact and procurement review is not applicable.
LEGAL REVIEW
The City Attorney's office has reviewed and approved as to form.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends the Council ratify the FY 2024-25 California State Library Report. If the City Council concurs with staff’s recommendation, an appropriate motion would be:
“I move to ratify the FY 2024-25 California State Library Report.”
ATTACHMENTS
1. FY 2024-25 California State Library Report
2. FY 2024-25 California State Library Report Infographic