Menlo Park Library Foundation participates in the Amazon Smile program. When shoppers buy merchandise at Amazon via this link, Amazon will donate one-half of one percent of the total sale price to Menlo Park Library Foundation. Put another way: for every $100 spent, Amazon will donate fifty cents. Purchases must be made at this link in order to qualify for the donation: https://smile.amazon.com/ch/47-0950709

The most checked-out library item of all time. 🕵️📖 The latest edition of the Menlo Park Library newsletter contains complete library event listings, information, and fun facts about the library and Menlo Park. For example, can you guess what is the most checked-out library item of all time? Read the answer on page 4.  Download the July/August edition.

Click image to download presentation (PDF)

A new library for Belle Haven. 📖✍️ The City Council has unanimously approved plans to begin conceptual design, site analysis and cost estimation for a new branch library. Menlo Park Library Foundation is all-in to support this much-needed project for the community. Your involvement is needed too– join the conversation!

"Block Party Book Prize" winners. 😃📚 We had a blast at the Menlo Park Block Party on June 12! Well over 400 friends and neighbors stopped by our table to say hello, pick up a free book from the Little Free Library, and enter our "block party book prize" drawing. Congratulations to the prize winners!

📚 Julia R., whose book was "Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind," by Ann B. Ross
📚 Emmett P., whose book was "The River of Doubt," by Candice Millard

"If I were a book" youth poetry celebration. 😃📚 City Hall was abuzz with youthful new energy this week. Over 200 youth poets and their families packed the City Council Chamber for the Menlo Park Youth Poetry Celebration. Contest winners read their original poems on the theme, "If I Were a Book..." All the poets received a blue ribbon and beautiful commemorative booklet. Winners received cash prizes sponsored by Menlo Park Library Foundation. The grand prize winner also received a new iPad. Congratulations to Menlo Park's amazing youth poets!

Building a new library. 😃📚 We unearthed these vintage snapshots of the Main Library under construction in 1967. The photos show the "great hall" expansion, which was completed in 1968. Back then, people used to say that the library is the tallest building in Menlo Park... because it has the most stories!

Back to the future.😃📚 We found this groovy magazine article about Menlo Park's "new" library in 1968! Complete with photos of the vinyl record listening station, space-age microfilm reader, and the card catalog-- where one can "research any subject from aardvark to zythum." Then, as now, Menlo Park Library is the place where past, present and future intersect.

Blast from the past. 📖 Here’s a vintage photo showing the Menlo Park Main Library as it appeared around the time it was built in 1957. This is the original entry and façade, which is now enclosed by a fence around the library’s outdoor patio. The chimney and fireplace are still in place where the magazine area is today. As Menlo Park grew, the library building was expanded with the “great hall” addition in 1968; and again when the children’s room was added in 1991. Then, as now, the library was a vibrant center for learning and sharing information, and a source of immense community pride. 📖

Gateway to knowledge. 📖 If you’ve passed by the Main Library recently, you may have noticed a new feature on the corner of Ravenswood and Alma. A beautiful replica of the historic Menlo Gate was recently constructed there. The new Menlo Gate is built of redwood like the original, but with a sturdy steel frame underneath, and extends over the pathway leading from the train station to the Library and civic center campus. Visit the library to learn more about the history of this beautiful new landmark.

Unleash your inner Shakespeare. 📖✍️ Enter the Menlo Park Youth Poetry Contest! Original works of youth-created poetry on the theme, "If I were a book…" may be entered by youth in grades 2 through 12. Cash prizes will be awarded to winners in each age group, and the grand prize winner will receive a new iPad. Limit one entry per youth. Entrants must live or attend school in Menlo Park, California. Click here for contest details and how to enter.