Library and Community Services

Library, Recreation, Childcare, Seniors, Community Events

DEPARTMENT OVERVIEW

The Library and Community Services department provides public library and literacy services, recreation facilities and programs, childcare and senior centers, summer camps and aftershool care, athletic facilities and fields, and cultural and community events to enrich the lives of Menlo Park residents. The department’s goals are to support children, families, older adults, lifelong learning, health and wellness, recreation, and quality care to build community and change lives for the better. The department operates twelve public facilities including the Main Library, Belle Haven Branch Library. Menlo Children's Center, Belle Haven Child Development Center, Belle Haven Youth Center, Arrillaga Family Recreation Center, Arrillaga Family Gymnasium, Arrillaga Family Gymnastics Center, Onetta Harris Community Center, Burgess Pool, Belle Haven Pool, and Menlo Park Senior Center. In 2021, construction will begin on a new, state-of-the-art new multigenerational facility to incorporate the current Onetta Harris Community Center, Menlo Park Senior Center, Belle Haven Youth Center, Belle Haven Pool and Belle Haven Branch Library. The new facility is slated to open in 2023.

Menlo Park Main Library as it appeared in 1962

CHILDCARE SERVICES

The Belle Haven Child Development Center provides licensed, subsidized child development services for income-qualified children ages 3–5 and is partially funded through State grants. The program includes a nutritional component.

The Menlo Children’s Center provides licensed childcare for ages 18 months through five and a half years old, as well as after school care for school aged children. A full-day summer camp program is also provided. All care includes a nutritional component and academic support.

The Belle Haven Youth Center houses the Belle Haven After-School Program, providing licensed childcare for school aged children, as well as a full-day summer camp program. A nutritional component and a homework program is included.

YOUTH SERVICES

The Library provides early childhood literacy programs and storytimes; after-school homework tutoring for K-12 students; parent education and support programs; children's library books and audiovisual materials; spaces for teens to gather and engage with peers; and family-oriented informational and cultural events.

Youth recreation classes include health and fitness, dance, martial arts, cooking, art, music, performing arts, and crafts. Youth sports include skills classes for basketball and soccer, youth tennis classes, athletic field use by area little league baseball, and youth aquatics including swim meets and water polo.

Recreation scholarships reduce financial barriers for youth to participate in city recreation and movement programs.

CIVIC ENGAGEMENT

The Library Commission advises the City Council on matters related to the services, programs, and facilities of the City's libraries and library systems.

The Parks and Recreation Commission advised the City Council on services, programs, and facilities related to the city's parks and recreation.

Newly formed in 2021, the Youth Advisory Committee formally engages teens in community service by advising the Parks and Recreation Commission on recreational and service programs.

The informal Teen Advisory Group (TAG) organizes library events and programs for teens and shares ideas for library services, contests, gaming, and reading for teens.

LIBRARY SERVICES

Menlo Park Library provides public access technology, books, audiovisual materials, educational and literary programs, and a robust suite of virtual library services and electronic resources.

The library also provides critical education and literacy support to vulnerable populations including adult literacy tutoring, English language acquisition, technology access, and after school homework support for students K-12.

OLDER ADULT SERVICES

The Menlo Park Senior Center provides classes, social services, special events, recreation and social activities for older adults and residents over the age of 55.

Regular programs include a daily nutrition program and meal service, exercise programs, arts and crafts, peer counseling, insurance counseling, ESL courses, dance and fitness classes, telephone wellness checks, table games, lifelong learning classes, and food pantry distribution.

RECREATION SERVICES

The department supports and provides a wide range of recreational and sports opportunities to the community including basketball, softball, littel league, soccer, volleyball, floor hockey, badminton, fitness classes, martial arts, swimming, and more.

Outdoor recreation facilities include tennis courts, a skate park, picnic areas, sports fields, two dog parks and Bedwell Bayfront Park, a 160-acre open space area with walking trails along San Francisco Bay.

STRATEGIC AND MASTER PLANS

The Library and Community Services Strategic Plan Update: 2020 and Beyond is a detailed yet flexible roadmap and performance metrics for the efficient and effective use of department facilities, services, programs, resources, and personnel to serve the Menlo Park community. As is appropriate and necessary in the dynamic and fluid environments in which local governments typically operate, the Strategic Plan Update is a living document that is periodically updated to remain aligned with new operational circumstances, emerging opportunities, and evolving community needs over time.

The Parks and Recreation Facilities Master Plan is intended to provide a road map to guide decision making to help the City maintain, manage and develop its park, open space and recreation facility system for the next 20 years. The Master Plan studies the existing park and recreation facilities, and idetifies a planning blueprint to expand, improve and protect these assets and provide recreational opportunities for the future.

The Bedwell Bayfront Park Master Plan provides a vision to guide the development of this unique urban-wildland interface parkland for the next 25 years. The park was originally envisioned and designed to be a passive reacretion park with access to nature, scenic views, and proximity to San Francisco Bay. Through an extensive public outreach process that was completed for the project in 2017, these key characteristics of the park were retained as an important guiding principle.

VOLUNTEER SUPPORT

The City of Menlo Park is fortunate to have the support of mutiple corps of skilled volunteers who generously give their time and talent to enchance services and resources to the community

Friends of Menlo Park Library is an independent nonprofit organization whose sole mission is to fundraise and support Menlo Park Library programs and services. Organized as a 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit, Friends of Menlo Park Library is an all-volunteer organiztion that fundraises primarily by accepting donations of gently used books and reselling them through library booksales and a small bookstore in the Main Library, in addition to accepting direct financial donations.

Menlo Park Library Foundation is an independent nonprofit whose sole mission is to support Menlo Park Library special programs and capital projects through private philanthropic support. Organized as a charitable 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Menlo Park Library Foundation is an all-volunteer organiztion that fundraises primarily by accepting direct financial donations from private individuals and entities that seek to improve the local community through public library program and facility enhancements.\

Individual volunteers provide welcome additional support for a wide range of program activities, including senior center programs, library programs, food pantry distribution, homework tutoring for students, special events, community garden programs, and adult literacy and ESL tutoring.