Fiscal Year 2024–2025 has been a year of growth, innovation, and community connection for Simi Valley Public Library. This year, we launched our Mobile Library van, saw incredible growth in Literacy Services, and fostered a number of new community relationships inside and outside the Library. Keep reading to discover the highlights of the past year and how your Library is impacting the community we serve!

– Stephanie Wronka, Library Director

Service Hours

LIBRARY VISITS

Library CARDHOLDERS

ITEMS BORROWED

Community

Our Library is dedicated to extending library services beyond the physical building, ensuring access to all community members. We are constantly participating in community events and creating new partnerships to meet our community where they are.

Mobile Library

In February, the Library launched our Mobile Library van with a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony attended by over 200 people. Attendees learned how the van operated, met with our Mobile Coordinator, and checked out library materials.

NUMBER OF PARTNERSHIPS

NUMBER OF MOBILE STOPS

NUMBER OF PEOPLE SERVED

NUMBER OF CHECKOUTS

Mobile Library - Coloring Table

AR24-25 Mobile Library Siblings

AR2425 Mobile Library Toy

AR2425 Mobile Library Reading

AR2425 Mobile Library Excited

Farmer’s Market – Library staff and Friends of the Library members teamed up to bring Storytime, giveaway books, and fun learning activities to enrich Simi Adventist Health’s Farmer’s Market.

Community Events – Library staff enjoyed participating in various community events such as the Simi Valley Street Fairs, Simi Valley Police Department’s National Night Out, the Metrolink’s Holiday Express, and much more. This year, we participated in 66 stops with our Mobile Library, connecting 2,175 people with library resources.

AR 24-25 Community Events - Board Books

AR24-25 Community Events Reading

AR24-25 Community Events Crafts

AR24-25 Community Events Street Fair

AR24-25 Community Events Painting

AR24-25 Community Events Library Card

AR24-25 Community Events Balloon

School Visits – In an effort to meet Simi Valley youth where they were in FY 2024-2025, Library staff organized 20 school visits. 193 library cards were created, showcasing the success of our goal to provide access to digital services for local children, even for those unable to come into the building.

Physical Circulation

eMaterial Circulation

Volunteer Hours

In addition to the many ways our Library gets out into the community, our facility also serves as a community hub. In FY 2024-2025, the Library partnered with various organizations to host events sharing resources, building connections, and promoting lifelong learning. .

Community Hub

Youth Council

The Library partnered with the Simi Valley Youth Council and City Staff to host a series of impactful events designed to connect local youth with valuable resources and opportunities. Highlights from this year included Rock Painting for Suicide Prevention, a Volunteer Fair, the Teen Wellness Expo, and Job Fair.

AR 24-25 Youth Council - Job Fair

AR 24-25 Youth Council - SVPD

Launch of Youth Orchestra

Our community knows the Simi Valley Public Library is a place where they can come relax and connect with others, particularly through free workshops and entertainment. In FY 2024-2025, the Library reconnected with our Chamber Orchestras and hosted the Youth Orchestra’s first performance.

Power Outages and Safety Workshops – Even in extreme weather conditions, our community knows they can depend on the Library to continue serving their needs. Thanks to our Tesla generator, during this year’s Public Safety Power Shutoff events, over 1,000 people came to the Library to charge their devices and use our free Wi-Fi for work.

Wellness Expo (Blood Drives) – The Council on Aging hosted health screenings in our Community Room during their Wellness Expo; seniors attend Senior Fitness twice a month. The Community Room was also used to host four blood drives throughout the year.

Engagement

The Simi Valley Public Library enjoys creating fun and engaging programs that connect our community with resources, promote lifelong learning, and build connections.

Read Across America

In partnership with the Simi Valley Educators Association, local leaders inspired children by reading at our annual Read Across America program. This year’s theme highlighted stories from around the nation and included historical California-specific activities organized by the Friends of the Library and Strathearn Historical Society.

AR2425 RAA Carousel FOL

AR2425 RAA Carousel History

AR2425 RAA Carousel Gold

AR2425 RAA Carousel Craft

AR24-25 RAA Seuss

AR24-25 RAA City Council

AR24-25 RAA Headbands

AR24-25 RAA Pair

Cultural Programs – To celebrate the diverse cultures in our community, the Library invited guest speakers and performances, including Irish dancing and Redbird’s Vision to host a mini Pow Wow. These programs provided unique opportunities to experience and appreciate different traditions.

Photography Panel – The Library partnered with the Cultural Arts Center and Moorpark College to bring back their photography exhibit and panel. During these events, the community and panelists engaged with one another about the artwork created by our own local talent.

Volunteers – Our volunteers are the heartbeat of our Library. This year, volunteers provided 11,428 hours of their time maintaining our gardens, operating our bookstore, assisting with programs, and so much more.

Reading Challenges – Reading challenges help motivate reluctant readers to track their reading. We had an unprecedented 2,176 participants in our summer and fall reading challenges.

Building Awareness

INCREASE IN FACEBOOK REACH

INCREASE IN INSTAGRAM REACH

INCREASE IN FACEBOOK PAGE VISITS

INCREASE IN INSTAGRAM PROFILE VISITS

The Library is constantly working to increase awareness of our available resources and gather community input. This year during National Library Week, we collected feedback on what customers would like to see at their Library, which resulted in the addition of our new pet dragon, Little Wing!

Learning

Our Library provided early storytimes, career and community resource workshops, STEAM-related programs, and expanded Literacy services in FY 2024-2025.

Programs

Attendees

Storytime Attendees

The Adult Literacy program tripled during the year.

Literacy Program – Our Adult Literacy Program is thriving and continues to address a great need in our community. During FY 2024-2025, we tripled our program by establishing 27 tutor/learner matches with tutors sometimes serving multiple learners.

Tween and Teen Programming – Children’s and Teen Services saw a growth in tween programming, an age group often underserved by Library programming. New programs included our monthly STEAM-driven Courageous Chronicles, Lego Club, and Tween Craft Program led by our Teen Advisory Group members.

AR2425 Tween and Teen Slime

AR2425 Tween and Teen Legos

AR2425 Tween and Teen Boats

Vox Books – 46 Vox Books were added to our collection. These all-in-one read-along books have been extremely popular, with 443 checkouts of the 79 books in the collection.

Fiero Coding – With the addition of the database, Fiero Coding, we launched a Coding Club for ages 10-18. The Club meets monthly and helps our youth develop skills and connect with each other.