By Special to the Town Crier

With the theme of “Your Library,” National Library Week will be celebrated next week in public, corporate, school, college, law and other special libraries around the country.

In all these different types of libraries, professional librarians and their staff work to give users access to books and other forms of information.

Libraries provide an inter-library loan network across the world to help make diverse materials available at the local level.

Local supporters said some people are unaware that library services today go beyond printed material to helping users access the Internet and making information available in multiple alternate formats. One of the latest is the new electronic form of books called e-books.

In the Los Altos area, the local public library is a member of an award-winning countywide system. But, in addition, the library has a better base of financial support, which has resulted in the addition of some useful and otherwise unavailable materials. It is because of the commitment of many people that Los Altos has an active Friends of the Library, Vision 21, and the newly incorporated Los Altos Library Endowment.

The Friends of the Library have provided books, special equipment and programs beyond those that the library tax base could provide.

The Friends of the Library sell donated used books to obtain the funds necessary to cover a variety of programs.

The Vision 21 fund-raising effort raised funds to purchase expensive science and technology books not covered by the county library budget.

Recently, the library endowment was established to manage funds and assure added funding for the library in the future.

We are fortunate in the dedicated volunteers and highly qualified library staff we have at the Los Altos public library.