COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Dawn Jackson, Library Director
DATE: September 16, 2025
SUBJECT: Proclamation – Library Card Sign-up Month - September 2025
Description:
The City Council will present a Proclamation recognizing September 2025 as Library Card Sign-up Month in the City of Santa Maria.
BACKGROUND:
Library Card Sign-up Month was created in 1987 as a national campaign sponsored by the American Library Association (ALA) and libraries across the country to emphasize the importance of library cards to a child’s education and to reduce illiteracy. The cam paign started as a response to then Secretary of Education, William Bennett, who stated, “Let’s have a campaign…Every child should obtain a library card and use it.” With an $85,000 grant from the Reader’s Digest Foundation, the ALA teamed up with the Nati onal Commission on Libraries and Information Science to initiate Library Card Sign-up Month.
Since 1987, thousands of public libraries have participated in the annual campaign to remind parents, caregivers, and students that signing up for a library card i s a vital step on the path to academic achievement and lifelong learning.
Libraries play a crucial role in the education and development of children, offering a variety of programs to spark creativity and stimulate an interest in reading and learning.
Through access to technology, media resources, and educational programs, a library card gives students the tools to succeed in the classroom. It provides people of all ages endless possibilities to pursue their dreams, explore new passions and interests, a nd have a lifetime of learning.
DISCUSSION:
The Santa Maria Public Library (Library) encourages community members to sign up for a free library card to access the library’s many resources, print and electronic materials, databases, programming designed to meet community needs, and free services to support early literacy skills and lifelong learning. A library card provides community members with many cost-saving benefits, such as free access to the internet, Wi-Fi, and online databases, borrowing of up t o 50 items at one time, free streaming service, and checking out items from the Library of Things collection. The library is committed to offering a path to free resources that provide a respite from rising costs and enhance the quality of life for all community members.
2 Recognizing September as Library Card Sign -up Month in the City of Santa Maria will promote greater awareness of Library services and the value libraries provide to the community. By accessing these services with a Library card, residents will connect to resources and information which will positively impact their quality of life.
Proclamation Requested by: Santa Maria Public Library
Attachment: Proclamation -Library Card Sign-up Month