About Us
The Burlingame Public Library is the cultural and learning center for the community, encouraging the joy and wonder of reading, the wisdom of diverse ideas, and the power of lifelong learning. Within and beyond its walls, the library strives to preserve the past, serve the present and shape the future with opportunities to connect people and the world of information.
The BPL W.h.e.e.l.s. project is supported in whole by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered in California by the State Librarian. |
Who We Are |
The BPL W.h.e.e.l.s. team is a group of library staff dedicated to creating a new way of community outreach anchored by our City's organizational compass. By utilizing the mobile outreach bicycle, we hope to register new patrons who may never have set foot in the library. We will also bring library programming to new venues that we have not been able to in the past. Tech Stops will happen on both Burlingame Avenue and Broadway. We will be present at big City events like Art on the Avenue! By creating a presence outside our walls, we hope to allow for our patrons to redefine their ideas about what their community library is.
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Our History |
The Burlingame Public Library was established as a free public library by city ordinance October 11, 1909 by a group of public spirited citizens. The first books were supplied by the Burlingame Women’s Club, Burlingame Improvement Club, and the Burlingame Board of Trade. The Library opened in September 11, 1911 in a local Bank building. By July 1912, the library moved to the old Congregational Church, located at the corner of Bellevue and Primrose Avenues. The brown shingled building held almost 1,600 volumes, largely donated by residents, and served 785 card holders.
By 1929, a larger space was needed. Following an unsuccessful attempt to build a Carnegie Library, and an unsuccessful bond issue in 1929 for $75,000, a successful bond issue was passed for $65,000 in 1930. The new building was designed in a unique Mission style, combining elements of Tuscan and Spanish architecture popular at the time. The design was completed by prominent San Francisco architect Col. E. L. Norberg, who was also a Burlingame resident. The new library building opened May 3, 1931. Following the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, the City again approved a bond issue to reconstruct a new main library. The original children’s room and reference room, including the original furnishings were restored and reused in the reconstructed library. The library grew from 27,000 square feet to 48,000 square feet and maintained much of its original charm and period appeal. On October 4, 1997, the library was rededicated on the Bellevue and Primrose Roads site. The library was opened to much acclaim by then California State Librarian Kevin Starr and seven term Congressman Tom Lantos. The awarding winning architecture was featured in Library Journal in December 1997 and was a cover story in American Libraries in April 1998. Without changing the actual footprint of the library, Group 4 architects managed another major 8-month renovation of the library with the guidance of the Burlingame Library Foundation and City Librarian, Patricia Harding. The newest iteration of the Burlingame Library encompasses the latest needs for public libraries, creative space. With our new mode of transportation, the library is on the verge of redefining our role in the community. |