Easton Branch Library
THANK YOU ........ We did it!!!
In a little less than 6 months in 2010, we raised more than the $70,000 that the city needed to keep Easton Library open.
Furthermore, due to the strong community of support, the city agreed to re-instate Friday service at the branch which began in January 2011.
Even though we raised the money in 2010, we still have to face the reality that the branch costs the city approximately $70,000-plus per year. In this time of reduced public services and continued budget cuts, we have to continue to raise funds to ensure that both the Easton Branch and Main Library can provide the high level of services that we all enjoy. Please consider donating to support our libraries.
Donate now, online, with our secure credit card processing:
The Easton Branch Library, located at 1800 Easton Drive, Burlingame has been part of the Burlingame Library system since 1942, when it was first leased, and later acquired, from the North Burlingame Women’s Club.
Over the past 60 years, the library has served as a neighborhood resource frequented by many of the children from the surrounding 7 schools, as well as the local elderly and those who prefer to walk to their local library.
Twice in the past 30 years the library has been threatened with closure, first in 1977 shortly after Proposition 13 passed, and more recently when an extensive retro-fit was required for structural repairs and seismic security. In both occasions the community rallied to raise the necessary funds and support to maintain the library. In 2004 the community raised over $900,000 to almost fully fund the extensive rebuilding of the library.
Library Threatened
Now with the City’s current budgetary challenges the Easton Branch Library is threatened once again. Although the City Council members have indicated that they are all in favor of finding cuts elsewhere in the budget, they are also reaching out to the community to find ways to raise the necessary $70,000 annual operating funds.
The Burlingame Library Foundation is working with the City Manager, council members, faith communities, schools and the public to address the short term and the long term funding requirements that meet the community’s wishes for the continued operation of the Easton Library.
Join Team Easton Today
The public can make donations specifically for the Easton Branch Library through the Burlingame Library Foundation, either via this website or by sending donations directly to the foundation offices at 480 Primrose Road, Burlingame, CA 94010. Checks should be made payable to the Burlingame Library Foundation and clearly marked ’Easton Library Fund’. The Burlingame Library Foundation is a registered 501(c)(3) charity.
| Owners | $10,000 or more |
| MVP | $5,000 to $9,999 |
| All-star | $1,000 to $4,999 |
| Player | $100 to $999 |
| Member |
$1 to $99
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Or You can Donate now, online, with our secure credit card processing:
Frequently Asked Questions About Team Easton
Q. What is “Team Easton”?
A. Team Easton is a coalition of Burlingame and Hillsborough residents who love our libraries – both the main library and Easton branch – and are committed to raising funds to maintain library services.
Q. If we don’t raise the money, will Easton close?
Not at this time. The City Council members have agreed they will NOT be closing Easton at this time, however it is possible the Library will likely need to work on reduced hours at both the main branch and at Easton.
Q: What about the Library Foundation? Doesn’t it raise money for the Library?
A. Absolutely. The Foundation has already pledged to contribute $110,000 this year to support the Libraries. In fiscal year 2010/2011, the Foundation and the Trustees of the Library are committed to providing all the funds for purchasing new books and materials for both libraries. Sadly, we still need more. Your donation will be accepted by the Burlingame Library Foundation, a registered 501(c)(3) charity.
Q. How do I know that money donated to “Team Easton” will be used to keep the doors open?
A. Any donations designated as for “Team Easton” will be put into a special fund exclusively used to support Easton’s operation.
Q. How can we avoid going through this again next year?
A. There are no guarantees. However, if we can raise enough funds, we may be able to establish an endowment for Easton that will take the branch off the chopping block during future budget negotiations.
Q. How do I join Team Easton?
A. That’s the spirit! You can write a check to the Burlingame Library Foundation and clearly mark that it is for “Team Easton.” And please encourage your neighbors and friends to help join this effort.
Facts About the Easton Branch Library
- Easton currently serves 160 people a day or 800 people a week.
- Circulation of materials at Easton has gone up 160% from 2,502 a month to 6,507 a month in 2009. It is now 6,116 a month since closing on Fridays beginning May 1, 2009.
- 60% of the circulation at Easton is for Children’s materials.
- Easton is staffed primarily by part-time staff for $49,500.
- Easton’s material budget is $16,000.
- The cost of operating the branch is 1.92% of the library’s budget.
- Easton has 2 story times a week, including an evening story time. The average attendance at Easton’s story times is 40.
- Easton does 12 class visits a year.
- Children walk to Easton from the local schools – OLA, Lincoln, Roosevelt, and Franklin.
- Easton was renovated in 2004 with funding from the Thomas Z. Marshall Trust - $680,000, the Duncan Trust Fund - $130,00, members of the community and the Foundation - $230,000, and $90,000 from the City.
- Easton is a community library service where young and old can walk to their neighborhood branch.
- Easton has been designed to be primarily self-service and operates with two staff people and an occasional page at any given time.
- For more than 65 years Easton, opened as a library in 1942, has provided a particular type of neighborhood library service. Many patrons walk to the branch, and the residential location is highly valued by older people and young families with children.
- Real estate companies advertise proximity to the Easton Branch in their advertising literature, and young families moving into our neighborhoods supply the tax revenue that supports our many city services.
- Research shows that cities with a high public library circulation of books have correspondingly higher school test scores, regardless of parental education and income.
- Burlingame citizens value this service enough that they invested hundreds of thousands of dollars to rebuild the Easton Branch to insure that the historic building and this vital service survive and thrive. This reflects the value that citizens place in Branch Library service. Their investment should be honored.
- Libraries are infrastructure and valuable assets. This piece of infrastructure has just been thoroughly refurbished and updated (with mainly contributed funds). Easton Branch is an asset to preserve in accordance with the intentions of the generous public who invested in its future.
You can read more about the history of the Easton Branch library at the Burlingame Historical Society’s website