Shut-In Service

Volunteers have been selecting materials to meet individual interests and delivering them to Santa Monica residents confined at home and in health care or retirement facilities since 1973. Any Santa Monican who has difficulty coming to the Library or carrying books because of age, illness, temporary or permanent disability can be served.

All materials that can be borrowed by walk-in patrons can be checked out for our homebound Library users. Homebound patrons do not need a Library card to receive this entirely free service. To sign up, please call 310-458-8646. Click here (www.smpl.org/depts/volunteer) for information on becoming a volunteer with the Shut-In Service.


Large Print Book Collection

If you have difficulty reading the small type typical of most printed material, you may be interested in our large print book collection. The Library subscribes to several large print standing order plans and acquires bestsellers, biographies, and other quality fiction and nonfiction books as quickly as they become available in large print format. Many large print books are purchased in paperback because they are lighter and usually easier to handle.

While the Library is in temporary quarters, the large print book collection has been expanded at the Montana Ave. Branch Library, 1704 Montana Ave. and at the Ken Edwards Center, 1527 Fourth St. A small large print book collection is also available at the Senior Recreation Center, 1450 Ocean Ave.


Talking Books Service

Patrons with visual and/or physical impairments, who participate in the Library of Congress' Talking Books Service through the Braille Institute in Los Angeles, may be able to receive equipment and/or Talking Book cassettes on an interim, emergency basis only as available from the Ocean Park and Fairview Branch libraries. For more information, call the Ocean Park Branch at (310) 392-3804 and the Fairview Branch Library at (310) 450-0443.


Ken Edwards Center Reading Collection

The Ken Edwards Center Reading collection is a collaborative project of the Santa Monica Public Library and the Ken Edwards Center, a public facility owned and operated by the City of Santa Monica. Approximately 200 books including popular fiction and new nonfiction titles (about half are in large print) are available to be signed out (a library card is not necessary) for two weeks at a time. The books can be returned to the Center or to the Temporary Main Library or to the branch libraries.

The Ken Edwards Center is located at 1527 Fourth Street. It is open from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and every other Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.


Volunteer Opportunities

Friends of the Santa Monica Public Library - raise funds and support many valuable Library collections and services. If you would like to help with their biannual book sales and other activities, call 310-458-8608.

Shut-In Service - volunteers, who are interested in books and people, can directly aid Santa Monica's homebound residents. Volunteers regularly select and deliver library materials several hours every two weeks. Visits may vary from a few minutes to thirty minutes or more and are eagerly anticipated by our homebound patrons. For more information, call 310-458-8646. For other volunteer opportunities within the City of Santa Monica click here. (santa-monica.org/comm_progs/volunteer/)


Equipment for Special Needs at the Main Library

The Temporary Main Library (TML) offers public access to a TTY/TDD-equipped telephone on the second floor. Magnifying sheets, 8 1/2 by 11 inches, are also kept at the Reference Desk and can be signed out to use in the Library. An illuminated magnifying glass is available on the first floor.


Books Plus . . .

Many books, periodicals, and reference materials of particular interest to seniors are available. Subjects include health and nutrition, estate planning, retirement, finance, jobs, travel, arts and literature, and consumer information. Nonfiction materials and periodicals are located on the first floor, fiction on the second floor. The New Books shelf, located just inside the entrance at the TML, holds bestsellers of all kinds.

Audiovisual collections, located on the Temporary Main Library's second floor, have many materials that may be of particular interest to seniors. Books-on-cassette and books-on-CD, classic and contemporary titles, are available to check out for four weeks at a time. Sound Recordings of popular and classical music and compact discs can be checked out for four weeks at a time. The Temporary Main Library offers DVDs and videos of new and old popular feature films, Shakespearean plays, opera, travel, and a variety of other documentaries. There's also an extensive collection of closed-captioned videos. Up to 5 video titles and 2 DVDs may be checked out from the Temporary Main Library for 7 days (no renewals). Please note: Branch libraries may have different number limits on their audiovisual collections.


Programs of Interest at the Main Library

The Library is one of 12 partner libraries in the California Center for the Book, a state affiliate of the Library of Congress' Center for the Book. This partnership supports special author, and other book programs. For more information, check the California Center for the Book (www.calbook.org ) web site.

Tuesdays with Books this program features reviews of interesting, timely books presented by authors and other speakers. The book review is followed by a question-and-answer session. Please note: Tuesdays with Books is temporarily on hiatus and will resume upon completion of the new Main Library scheduled to reopen after mid-2005.


Other Library Services

Information and Referral - The Main Library's Reference Services provides an extensive range of specialized directories and referral information about agencies, services, education, and other subjects of interest to senior citizens.

Forms - Income tax forms are available online at all library locations and voter registration forms are also available. Ask for other forms of interest at the Reference Desk.

Telephone Reference - Questions requiring brief responses are answered by librarians in the Main Library Reference Department Mon.-Sat. 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Sunday 1 to 5 p.m. The number to call is 310-451-8859.

Catalog Assistance - If you wish a book held for you, call Catalog Assistance 310-458-8614, may be called during regular Main Library service hours. Circulating items will be held for 24 hours and can be picked up at the Circulation Desk in the lobby. You can also reserve materials that are checked out.