Community Feedback
The San José Public Library is committed to connecting and listening to San Jose residents. One way we do this is by visiting public events and talking to our residents and neighbors.
Each quarter we ask community members the following questions:
- Do you use the library? If so, which one?
- Why do you use the library, or why don't you use the library?
- What is something you'd like to see the library do?
From October through March, we heard from community members and gathered the following feedback:
The top 3 libraries being visited: King Library, Educational Park Library, and Evergreen Library. (Keep in mind the report data is related to the number of people each reporting location talked to) Many people use multiple libraries that are not part of the San Jose Public Library system. Locations mentioned were Santa Clara County Libraries in Milpitas, Morgan Hill, and Campbell, as well as libraries further from San Jose such as Sunnyvale and San Francisco.
The top 3 reasons people are using the library: check out materials, attend programs, use the space.
The top 3 reasons people are NOT using the library: not have enough time, did not really know about the resources the library offered, lack of transportation
When we asked people about what they would like from the library, responses ranged from: more arts and crafts programs, more community events, and more ESL/ELL classes.
As we continue to talk with our library neighbors and residents, and report back over this coming year on what we are hearing, we will analyze trends and get a clearer picture of how our residents feel about their San Jose Public Libraries.
Stay "engaged" as new feedback data will continue to be posted here quarterly.
What have we been hearing specifically from some of our 26 library location residents?
Read on to hear directly from library staff at the following locations:
Biblioteca Latinoamericana Branch Library
Biblioteca Latinoamericana Branch Library
This holiday season, Biblioteca Latinoamericana had the pleasure of attending two fantastic outreach events.
The first event took place just before Thanksgiving: the TGI Craft & Creativity Fair held at the San Jose State Student Union for members of their community identifying as trans, gender-noncoforming, intersex, or as allies of that community. One librarian from Biblioteca Latinoamericana and one page from West Valley attended on behalf of SJPL’s LGBTQ+ Working Group. The crowd was small but mighty, and it was wonderful to be a part of such a feel-good event and to put our energy into not only chatting but also creating with the community. All but two visitors regularly use the library with many attending daily to study, research, and have a quiet space to be. One attendee proudly showed off their “throwback” library card design, sharing how much they love it and that it now feels like a collector’s item! We received a couple requests for queer book suggestions and other reading materials. This was a great opportunity to share about our Staff Picks lists and also demonstrated that some materials, like the book list book marks made for Silicon Valley Pride, could be useful to the community throughout the year. There was also some interest in the Queer Readers’ Café, currently hosted at Biblioteca Latinoamericana, although we learned a weekday evening is not a convenient time for many. We’ll try moving the program to weekend afternoons in the new year in an attempt to make it accessible to more members and allies of the LGBTQ+ community. I can’t wait to see what other opportunities the LGBTQ+ Working Group will have to connect with the community.
Right before Christmas, Biblioteca Latinoamericana once again attended the annual Posada event at the Washington United Youth Center. It’s always quite the party and this year was no exception. We arrived to the sound of cheers as a group of young dancers wrapped up their performance, and we maybe had to dodge a few enthusiastic frisbee players as we set up our table. The space was full and more than 80 of the event attendees stopped by the library table to learn about our upcoming events and snag a book. While the noise level made it challenging to have a conversation (when I said party, I meant, party!) but it hardly mattered as many of the folks stopping by were recognized as regular library visitors. We greeted families we see each week for story time and other programs, as well as teens who drop by to study and game after school. One parent proudly exclaimed “I raised my daughter at Biblioteca!” and then shared that his colleague regularly brings his students to visit so they understand what a great resource the library is. Even though engaging in in-depth conversations at this event wasn’t easy, this was an important space for us to be in, helping the branch’s immediate community celebrate the holidays. We’ll just have to keep doing that!
During the event we had a question board with 4 questions about going and not going to the library, things the library could do, and electronic resources the library should provide. To entice people to answer the questions, we set up a spinning wheel that gave out notepads, pens, tote bags, and candy as a prize for answering a question. We received over 100 responses from the participants.
From all of this feedback we can get a general understanding about how important the Hillview Branch is to the local community. A majority of the Hillview community that attended the event uses the Hillview library because of the distance from their homes, large collection of materials, fun programs, and stable wifi. Many of the community members want more holiday events like the Trunk or Treat throughout the year, electronic devices, and fun programs. Many of these suggestions will be taken into consideration when planning for future programs. The library is always open to feedback so that we can improve and continue to serve the community as best as we can.
Vineland Library
Vineland Library staff hosted a Community Engagement event at the branch on Sunday, December 28th during open hours in an effort to get feedback from library patrons. Normally, engagement events are done offsite, so this was a great opportunity to hear from current Vineland Library users. We had a question board with 4 questions to get a sense of which libraries people go to, why they do (or don’t) go to the library, what they’d like to see San Jose libraries do/offer, and any other comments they’d like to make. Each participant was able to get free books- depending on how many questions they answered. The results showed that a majority of the participants only come to our branch, Vineland. Their reasons were that our branch is closest to where they live and made comments about the large size of our branch, the nice environment, and the size/variety of our collections. They showed interest in the library offering more community events, arts & crafts programs and family/youth programs. It was very nice to receive comments like “you are doing great” and “this library has a great atmosphere and I love it.”
We enjoy these opportunities to hear what our patrons want so we can improve our library and services. We also love an excuse to give out free books! Based on the feedback we received from this survey, we hope to create more programs for a variety of age-groups. We will also continue to provide a welcoming environment and with a wide variety of materials. We are always looking for new ideas for programming and are actively recruiting for volunteers so we can support more programs.
Joyce Ellington Library
Joyce Ellington Branch Library
Outreach Event: Grant Elementary School Coffee with Principal
Date: 2026 February 27
Summary:
Joyce Ellington Branch Library staff attended Grant Elementary School’s Coffee with the Principal in February. The most discussed topic was the upcoming vote on the closure of elementary schools in the San Jose Unified School District.
This prevalent and potent issue was top of mind for many community members as staff at the branch spoke with concerned caregivers and community members who visited the library.
Educators, caregivers of students, students and community members expressed a variety of concerns including: loss of classes/programs (e.g. Two-Way Bilingual Immersion, Special Day Class, art, music, library), increased class sizes and overcrowding at schools that will absorb students, loss of connection to educators, loss of connection to neighborhood/community, loss of quality of education, challenges with transportation to/from school, increased traffic at drop-off/pick-up, increased pollution at outdoor fields in downtown locations, loss of property values, impending empty and blighted school properties, skepticism at lack of transparency, concern that this is being done as a land grab for wealthy developers, etc.
A variety of stakeholders attended rallies, school board meetings and reached out to local media outlets.
Community members overwhelmingly do not want to see the school closures.
Additionally, concerns have been raised that the schools targeted for closure are all Title I schools, which has led to parents alleging discrimination.
As a strong partner and ally, the Joyce Ellington Branch Library will continue to strengthen our relationships with our local schools. We are a community meeting place, we provide a variety of after school programming, we meet with educators and students at their schools and invite them to the library for class visits and programs. We attend neighborhood association meetings. We strive to keep abreast of and attuned to our community’s needs and concerns.
Update: On March 26, 2026, the San José Unified Board of Education voted 3-2 to close 5 elementary schools and relocate another.
Berryessa Library
For our third-quarter Community Engagement (January through March 2026) we hosted it at a Teens Reach Meeting at the Berryessa Branch on Saturday, February 7th, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Berryessa branch Teens Reach meetings are hosted once a month. During this time, teens develop leadership and teamwork skills by working together to pitch program and community service ideas, give feedback on planned programs, and complete community service projects.
12 Teens attended the meeting, and their opinions were connected via a SurveyMonkey survey. From this feedback, I learned that overall, teens do use the library for things besides volunteering. Most use it to check out materials. When asked about something they would like to see the library have more social events, crafts for kids to do, volunteer opportunities, collaboration with school clubs, events for teens/adults, incentives to encourage reading outside of school, programs for seniors, and programs with games. They also want to see a business serving coffee at the library, a community art project at the library, and an expansion of the book collection. When asked regarding what kind of programs should be hosted for teens, they would like to see more social, career exploration, study group, college prep, STEM, chess-teaching, tutoring, and current-event education programs; they also want programs where they can learn new skills. And in response to what types of programs would work best for tweens, they said that study, STEM, homework-help, arts and crafts, skill-building, physical-education, video-game, and tutoring programs. One teen said he did not feel like tween programs were necessary since they already come here after school.
Tully Library
This quarter, Tully Branch Library participated in ICAN’s Easter Celebration, where staff engaged with families about their communities and shared information about library services. Families were also invited to complete paper surveys featuring four ASK questions, which were made available in multiple languages to ensure accessibility.
When asked what kind of community they would like to live in, most respondents expressed a desire for a trustworthy environment where neighbors can rely on one another. Interestingly, when asked how those ideals compares to their current experience, many shared that there is little to no difference—they already perceive their community as friendly and supportive.
Through these conversations, we learned that families value opportunities to attend community events and are consistently interested in finding more activities to enjoy together.
In response to this feedback, Tully Branch Library recognizes that while we already offer a wide range of family-oriented programs, there is an opportunity to increase awareness. One potential strategy is to expand outreach efforts by distributing flyers at local community centers and family resource centers, helping ensure that more families are informed about the programs and services available to them.
Add a comment to: Community Engagement — Fall/Winter 2025-2026