Palo Alto, CA --  On July 1 st the Library's loan period for all materials, except DVDs, will be extended from three to four weeks. Due to high demand, DVDs will continue to be checked out for one week.

“Customers have been asking for a longer loan period,” said Circulation Coordinator Rose Sebastian.   “Allowing customers to keep materials an extra week will accommodate increased community demand while easing the pressure on library staff.

  “The Library is heavily used,” she added.   “A record-breaking 1.3 million items were checked out last year, giving Palo Alto City Library the highest circulation per capita for a public library in a city of our size in California.”

This is one of several strategies employed by the Library to handle increasing use without having to increase staff.   New self-checkout machines at Main Library and Mitchell Park branch have streamlined operations at those facilities, but handling returned materials remains time-consuming and labor-intensive.   “Every item that gets borrowed has to be checked in and reshelved when it's returned,” noted Sebastian.

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