In the left-hand margin of the search results, look for “Available at” and expand the selection by clicking it. Then click the box next to the branch you prefer.

For each item record, you will see an “Available” link in green. Click the link to see the list of libraries that have the item in stock. If no copy is currently available, you will be able to place a hold.

Click the “Help” link in the upper-right corner of the screen.  Use the menu options to select the topic you need help with.

The “Broaden Search” button appears after performing a search. When you click it, another keyword search is performed to find subjects close to your original search.

Yes, you can sort search results by relevance, title, date acquired, author, publication date, and rating.

Near the top of the catalog home page, you will see two drop down menus after the words “Search the.” You can choose to search the catalog, databases/articles or everything. You can also choose to search by keyword, title, author, series, subject, tag, list, or user. In the next box, you can enter your search terms. 

You can use Advanced Search if you want to use multiple search terms, such as title and author, or if you want to limit your search to a specific library, location, type of material, language, publisher, or year.

The online catalogs (BiblioCommons and OneSearch interfaces) provide access to all the books, audio books, movies, music, and other items owned by all 34 public and community college libraries in San Mateo County. You can use the online catalog to check your library account for materials you have checked out, placed holds on, or pay and fees you may owe.

In order to meet current accessibility standards, the classic catalog will be discontinued and BiblioCommons will be the principle catalog for the Peninsula Library System.

There are summaries and reviews (if any) within the item record details. You can find “Opinions” towards the bottom of the page from the Critics (official reviews) and from the Community (other library users).

You can add items to a “For Later,” “In Progress,” or “Completed” shelf. This allows you to keep track of items you want to save for later, may be using or have finished using.

You can enable or disable your borrowing history from the Account Preferences tab in My Settings.

The library’s holdings of physical items are viewable in the online catalog. From the search results page, click on “view location availability” in the item’s record to see which branches own an item and how many copies of an item there are.

All nine public library jurisdictions in the Peninsula Library System consortium share several eBook resources including the popular Peninsula Library System Libby eBook collection. These titles are available to anyone who has a card from any library in the Peninsula Library System. When using the online catalog, any eBook title that is available to all will say “check out” if it is available or “place hold” if it is checked out. eBooks in other shared collections will have a link to connect to it.

In addition to the shared collections, there are eBooks in the library catalog that are only available to cardholders from the library that purchased the eBook. Publishers and Digital Rights Management prevent the loan of these titles outside the specific library’s boundaries. When using the on online catalog these titles will say, for example, “San Mateo County Library Cardholders (card begins with 29041, 29731, or 29735) connect to this eBook online.” See the information at https://plsinfo.org/emedia to learn more about e-resources.

Yes. Due to licensing agreements, there are limited quantities of eBook or audio copies that can be used at any one time. If you place a hold in Libby, you will be notified via push notification or in the Libby app when it is available.

eBooks and audio books are automatically returned when their loan periods end.  In Libby you can return loans early.

The lending period is typically 1-3 weeks, depending on your account settings in Libby, which you control.

eBooks come up in your catalog search results just like all other library materials. If you want to search specifically for eBooks, use the Advanced Search features or filters after you’ve completed a search. Enter your search terms in the top box and, under the “Format” filter, select “eBook”.

In general, yes. They have the same content, illustrations, and photos. However, the page numbers might not match due to screen size and text size differences.

Yes, they’re free to Peninsula Library System card holders. To apply for a card online fill out the form at https://plsinfo.org/get_a_librarycard.

Audio eBooks (also known as MP3 audio books, or simply audio books) are recordings of books read aloud. You can listen to them on any device that can play MP3 files.

eBooks are electronic versions of printed books that can be read on a computer, tablet, phone or other electronic device with the appropriate software and capabilities.

The Peninsula Library System is a consortium of libraries in San Mateo County. To learn more, visit https://plsinfo.org/about/.

Your Personal Identification Number (PIN) helps to protect your library account from being used by others. The PIN consists of four digits. The default PIN may be the last four digits of the telephone number you provided when you applied for a library card. When you try to login and cannot access your library account, your address and/or telephone number may be out of date in our records. Please bring photo identification and proof of your current home address into one of our libraries to have this information updated for you.

If you wish to update or change your PIN, go to “My Settings” and find the PIN setting under Account Information.

• Under “Account Information,” click “PIN (usually the last four digits of your phone number)”.
• Enter your current PIN and new PIN.
• Click on “Save PIN.”

In BiblioCommons, click on the “Log In” link in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. You will be asked for your 14-digit library card number or username and PIN. If you have not set up a username for the account, you will be prompted to do so. When you are finished checking your account, remember to log out so that others will not be able to access it.

In OneSearch, login using the “Sign in” link in the upper right-hand corner of the screen.  Select the appropriate login for Community Members or SMCCD Students, Faculty and Staff.  

• Community members, including members of the Peninsula Library System, who have OneSearch accounts login with their OneSearch account credentials and password, which may be set to include any of the following, according to your preferences when you create your account: OneSearch account number (everyone will be assigned one of these by default), PLS Library card number, or other user name or ID. Please note that the password is unique to your OneSearch account and is not necessarily the same as your PLS account.
• Current students, faculty, and staff of one of the colleges or the college district login using their single sign on college credentials used for all OneLogin accounts, including Canvas, Zoom, etc.

In general, your library is based on the address on file. If you are unsure, use the table below.

If a book is unavailable at any of the Peninsula Library System libraries, Menlo Park Library, San Mateo County Library, and San Mateo Public Library cardholders can request it through LINK+. LINK+ is a consortium of libraries that gives you access to materials from all over the state of California.

You can freeze or pause your holds so they don’t become available while you’re away. When you come back you can unfreeze your holds and still have your same place in the holds queue.

If you need something right away, and the catalog says it is in a “Check Shelf” status, DON’T PLACE A HOLD! The quickest option is to call the library where the item is available (“Check Shelf” status) and ask for a “courtesy hold.” Staff will place the item on their holdshelf in time for your arrival. Some items in the collection may not be available as a courtesy hold, depending on local library policies.

While we try to get your library materials to you as quickly as possible, holds that are currently in a “Check Shelf” status may take several days to arrive. Deliveries take place Mondays through Saturdays at most libraries (excluding holidays), and we will notify you (via email, text, phone or postal mail, depending on your account settings) as soon as your items are ready to pick up. Items currently checked out may take longer to fill holds since current borrowers will need to return the items first.

When you encounter a record in the catalog that has items for different volumes, parts, or years, you can call your local library and ask library staff to place a “copy-specific” hold for you to ensure that you receive the item that you want.

If you would like to change the pickup location for an item, you can do so if the hold has not yet been filled. If the hold has already been filled, call or visit your local library (https://plsinfo.org/library-hours); staff will assist you with making this change.

The library will contact you when your hold is ready to be picked up. The best ways for us to get in touch with you are email and text – and using both is even better! If you are unsure of your notification method, contact your local library (https://plsinfo.org/library-hours). For text notifications, sign up using the instructions at https://plsinfo.org/texturlib.

Renewing your card is easy. You can renew your PLS library card at any public library in San Mateo County.  You can renew your community college library card at any college library. Specific requirements may vary; you may be required to bring photo identification and proof of your current home address. Proof of your current home address may be your ID, a current utility bill (PG&E, phone, water, etc.), a piece of mail addressed to you (“Resident” or similar generic forms of address are generally not accepted), or similar documentation that shows your name and current address. If you have any questions, please contact your local library (https://plsinfo.org/library-hours).

The Peninsula Library System will automatically renew eligible items two days before the due date. The new due dates will be based on the original due dates. You will receive notification two days in advance of the due date alerting you which items have been renewed and which items cannot be renewed. Items with holds/reserves or that have reached the maximum renewal limit will not renew. Your library account must be current and have a balance of fifty dollars ($50) or less for automatic renewals to work.

Other ways to renew:

BiblioCommons – renew through the My Borrowing menu item. From the “Checked Out” tab, select the items you wish to renew and click “Renew”. A new due date will appear indicating a successful renewal.

Text – renew through SMS text message via Shoutbomb.  Go to https://plsinfo.org/texturlib for instruction on how to register for text message alerts and renew your items.

Telephone – renew through telephone prompts can be done by calling (650) 638-0399. 

App – renew through mobile app from either the Apple Store or Google Play. Search for “Peninsula Library System” and choose your home library app. 

If you have any questions, please contact your local library.

We appreciate you using email notification for holds and overdue materials. Currently, libraries do not have the functionality to respond to circulation questions by email. The best way to contact your library if you have questions is to call them directly and ask to speak with a circulation staff member. You can find the list of phone numbers on the My Library page: https://plsinfo.org/plsinfo/library-hours.

No. When you fill out the form the first time, your email address is added to your library record. All future notices will be sent to you via email. You only need to fill out this form once.

The most likely reasons for not receiving an email notification from us is that our emails may have been routed to your spam or junk email folder or the email address in your account is incorrect. 

Log into your account and check your email address.  Look carefully for spelling and/or punctuation errors to fix.

Check your spam or junk folders. You can mark our emails as “not spam”, or similar terminology, so that our email goes straight into your inbox rather than your junk or spam folder. Check with your email provider on how to whitelist a sender or prevent emails from going to the spam/junk folder. You may also consider getting into the habit of checking your spam/junk folders periodically.

Go to your library account in the online catalog and sign in using your barcode and PIN. Click on the “Settings” gear wheel icon next to “My Account”. Update your email address under “Account Information.” 

You will continue to receive email notifications to the email address we have in your account.  If your email address changes, we recommend setting up forwarding email from your old email address to your new email address until you update your library account with your new email address.

Once you register for email notifications, your library will notify you by email two days before your item is due to be returned. This system will work for items that have one-week, two-week, and three-week loan periods. Note, however, that items with one-hour, one-day or two-day loan periods will not be part of this service!

Log in to your library account and click on the “Settings” gear wheel icon next to “My Account”. Update your email address and “Digital Notification Email” under “Account Information.”

If you have further questions or need assistance, contact your local library.

Before paying online, review your charge(s) carefully. Once paid, most charges are non-refundable. If you have any questions, please contact your local library before paying any fees.

Many fees are non-refundable.  Since policies vary at PLS libraries, contact your local library before paying any fees. They can explain the fines and fees that appear on your account. If you have a question about a payment do the following:

• Check to see if the fee/fine still shows in your account. If it still shows there, your payment didn’t go through.
• Check in your credit card statement to see if the payment appears.
• Check your confirmation email.

Please have a copy of your statement and confirmation email when you contact your local library. If you find a charge on your credit card that needs to be disputed, your credit card company will help you with the proper procedure.

Yes, this is correct. Peninsula Library System is working with a secure payment vendor to ensure the security of your online payments. This is where the payment will be processed.

There are many reasons why you might see this message. Please contact your local library for assistance. Your payment cannot be processed as long as this error message is displayed, and no fines or fees will be cleared from your record.

Visa, MasterCard and Discover credit cards are the only forms of payment we can accept online at this time.

Library payments will show up as <Your Local Library> – Library Payment. “Your Local Library” should be your home library (San Mateo Public, Brisbane, Redwood City, etc.).

Fines and fees visible in your “My Library Account” may be paid online. Any other charges, including printing fees, may be paid at your local library.

No, any amount can be paid online. However, the total amount of fines on your account needs to be less than $50.00 in order be able to renew checked out items and have full use of your library account.

In your account on BiblioCommons, go to the Fees tab and select the fees to pay. Once you click Pay Selected, you will be directed to a Peninsula Library System Secure Payment Form to enter your credit card information.

You may contact us in person or online.  

1. Contact any library staff member at any library. They will be glad to take your feedback. You can find the library phone numbers at https://plsinfo.org/library-hours. 
2. From the catalog or the Peninsula Library System website, https://plsinfo.org, click on “Contact Us” at the bottom of the page. There are a variety of feedback forms. We read all of them and respond to questions.