What will the new address be?
Marin County Free Library, South Novato Branch
Hangar 6 Hamilton Landing Rd., Ste. 140
Novato 94949
Why is the South Novato Branch (SNO) of the Marin County Free Library moving to Hamilton in Hangar 6?
Hamilton is one of the fastest growing areas of Novato. When the Library lost its lease at Pacheco Plaza, we explored a number of options and chose the Hamilton Hangars as the most suitable location. We are excited to be close to senior housing, workforce housing, schools and rapidly growing residential areas.
When do we hope to open?
Right now, we’re looking at an opening date of the end of May or the beginning of June.
What do we hope to accomplish?
The new library will be about 50% bigger than the current storefront. We will be moving our existing furniture and collections to the new branch and will make additions in the future as the budget allows. We’ll have room to expand our large print collection, which is heavily used by seniors; to provide a small dedicated space for teens with popular books and study space; to increase our media collection of audio books and videos/DVD’s; to provide a larger children’s area with space for programming; and eventually more public use computers.
All of the popular services of the current library will be available at the new branch. Family Literacy, a joint project between the County Library and the San Rafael Public Library, will continue to have space in the Library for their tutoring services. The hugely popular Summer Reading Program will kick off children’s programs. A weekly storytime will be scheduled for pre-schoolers.
Although we can’t increase our hours from the current 26 per week, we are planning a community survey for residents about the optimum open times to enable us to provide the best hours that residents want and our budget can afford.
We will be experimenting with technology at SNO. The raised flooring in the building will let us easily run power and data cables to the study tables so that patrons can plug their personal laptops into the Library network. We will be installing a wireless network also, to support personal laptop use. Two self-check machines will be available to speed up checkout.
How can I help?
If you can, donate to our furnishings fund that's been established by the Friends of the Novato Libraries. All donors will be recognized on a plaque in the new library, with the following levels of recognition: Cadets - under $100; Navigators - $100 - $499; Pilots $500 - $999; Captain's Circle $1,000 and above. Please send donations to The Friends of the Novato libraries, South Novato Furnishings Fund, 3501 Civic Center Dr., Ste. 414, San Rafael, CA 94903. As we get closer to opening, there will be volunteer opportunities too!
