Contra Costa County Library

History

Founded in 1913, the Contra Costa County Library brought a commitment to widespread, county-wide service. Prior to this time, libraries for the public included the Martinez Free Reading Room and Library Association established in 1896 and the Richmond Public Library established in 1909.

By the 1920s, there were over 40 branches and the Contra Costa County Library also provided service to 64 public schools. During the years following World War II, the Library began to reflect the newly developing suburban nature of the county it served. In the mid-1950s, the Library began an ambitious program to construct much larger branch buildings. This eventually led to the construction of most of the buildings that the Library uses today. Between 1958 and 1974, 15 of the 21 library buildings now in use were opened. Among these were the County's first central library and the adjacent administrative and technical services center, which opened in 1961. At the present time, there are 26 community libraries and an online service available anywhere.

The Pleasant Hill branch features a donated collection of historical books on California in a special cabinet in its adult fiction area.

Branches

There are 26 community library locations:

1. Antioch (501 West 18th Street)
2. Bay Point (205 Pacifica Avenue, Unincorporated area)
3. Brentwood (751 Third Street)
4. Clayton (6125 Clayton Road)
5. Concord (2900 Salvio Street)
6. Crockett (991 Loring Avenue)
7. Danville (400 Front Street)
8. Dougherty Station (17017 Bollinger Canyon Road, Unincorporated area)
9. El Cerrito (6510 Stockton Avenue)
10. El Sobrante (4191 Appian Way, Unincorporated area)
11. Hercules (109 Civic Drive)
12. Kensington (61 Arlington Avenue, Unincorporated area)
13. Lafayette (3491 Mt. Diablo Blvd.)
14. Martinez Library (740 Court Street)
15. Moraga (1500 Saint Mary's Road)
16. Oakley (1050 Neroly Road)
17. Orinda (26 Orinda Way)
18. Pinole (2935 Pinole Valley Road)
19. Pittsburg (80 Power Avenue)
20. Pleasant Hill (1750 Oak Park Boulevard)
21. Prewett (4703 Lone Tree Way, Antioch)
22. Rodeo (220 Pacific Avenue)
23. San Pablo (2300 El Portal Drive; inside Abella Shopping Center)
24. San Ramon (100 Montgomery Street)
25. Walnut Creek (1644 N. Broadway, Walnut Creek)
26. Ygnacio Valley (2661 Oak Grove Road, Walnut Creek)

Service

The library provides both physical and online collections. Users require a free library card to access most services.

Approximate figures for service use in the year 2009–2010 include 455,000 cardholders, and over 7 million items borrowed; 400,000 online subscription database searches, 600,000 items renewed online, 700,000 holds placed using the online catalog, 30,000 eBooks circulated, and 150,000 program attendees.

Other programs

Project Second Chance

Project Second Chance (PSC), the Contra Costa County Library's adult literacy program, was founded in 1984. PSC offers basic literacy instruction by volunteers to adults. Since it began, the program has helped more than 4,000 people improve their reading, writing, and spelling skills.

Discover & Go

Discover and Go is a museum pass program developed by Contra Costa County Library in 2011 that provides California library cardholders with free and discounted tickets to local museums and cultural institutions. Discover & Go was awarded the 2012 National Medal for Museum and Library Service, the nation’s highest honor recognizing exceptional contributions of museums and libraries. The program is still expanding with grant funding from the California State Library.