National Library Week

Celebrate your love for libraries by thanking a library worker this month! Library folks work hard. A short list of duties would require them to answer questions with knowledge and patience, research information, shelve and circulate books, develop and deliver programs, create community partnerships, and provide technological assistance. National Library Week is April 19 – 25 and National Library Worker Day falls on April 21. This is a perfect time to let library workers know just how grateful you are for their role in keeping our library vibrant, vital, and functioning.

Construction Update

While we all anxiously await the reopening of the Modesto Library late this summer, County Librarian Sarah Dentan shared these interesting details about the temporary move to the Salida Library:

56 Modesto staff members were displaced for the duration of the move; most of them are working out of the Salida Library.

In preparation for the move, staff members moved the entire Modesto collection of books – 207,000 volumes in all. The move also involved 4.5 miles of shelving, weighing 21.5 tons.

During the renovation, the Modesto Express Library, located at Tenth Street downtown, is open for business. In fact, last year it was the third busiest in the county’s13-branch system.

Advocacy Message — Annual Report 2024-2025

What we treasure, we measure! The Stanislaus Library Annual Report includes these impressive statistics: more than 1 million library resources were accessed in 2024-25 including more than half a million physical materials. More than 46,000 people attended 1,924 library programs. Library staff made 994 deliveries to homebound residents. There were 216,574 digital library checkouts; and digital resources served 50,064 public computer sessions and 149,753 WiFi sessions. See the full report here.

SUTTER HEALTH INVESTMENT CAPS MODESTO LIBRARY FUNDRAISING EFFORT
Community Health Award will support shared mission of increasing digital access; job readiness; and healing through art.

Friends of the Modesto Library has received notice of a $100,000 investment from Sutter Health that puts a crown on the Lifelong Legacy campaign to raise funds for the Modesto Library renovation.

The Community Health Investment Award will enhance the Library’s abilities to support job readiness, increase digital access to the community, and promote mental wellness through art, according to Sarah Dentan, County Librarian.

“Because a person’s health is affected by many factors outside the walls of our hospital and care centers, such as access to employment or mental health support, we invest in organizations and projects that help close these gaps,” said Gino Patrizio, president of Sutter Health’s Greater Central Valley Division. “Individuals, families and communities can flourish when we address these factors together.”
Friends of the Modesto Library had previously announced the success of the Lifelong Legacy campaign to raise funds for the renovation of the Modesto Library. The ambitious, $3 million goal was met through the generosity of more than 30 major donors as well as hundreds of donations from individual library supporters.

The library renovation, which is currently underway, is primarily funded by $18 million in public funds from Stanislaus County, state library grants, and library reserves. The Lifelong Legacy effort will provide important enhancements such as a reimagined Early Childhood space; comfortable, durable furnishings, tech upgrades for public meeting rooms, quiet reading rooms and more.

The library is expected to reopen in summer 2026. During the closure, customers may visit the Express Library, located at Tenth Street Plaza.

Donations to the Lifelong Legacy are still being accepted. More information and a complete list of donors are available here.