Salinas Public Library

John Steinbeck Library Computer Lab

Salinas Public Library Site

Salinas Public Library Calendar

El Gabilan Library and John Steinbeck Library: Monday & Friday from 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m., and Tuesday thru Thursday from 2:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.

Cesar Chavez Library: Tuesday thru Thursday from 2:00 - 6:00 p.m., and Friday & Saturday from 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Visit us at one of our three library locations:

John Steinbeck Library,
350 Lincoln Avenue, Salinas, CA 93901 • (831) 758-7311

Cesar Chavez Library,
615 Williams Road, Salinas, CA 93905 • (831) 758-7345

El Gabilan Public Library,
1400 North Main Street, Salinas, CA 93906 • (831) 758-7302

At the Salinas Public Library, we are committed to helping every member of our community achieve their educational and vocational goals, as well as providing safe and inclusive spaces for residents to meet, learn and connect with one another. The Salinas Public Library has proudly served the community since 1909 when it first opened its doors as a Carnegie Public Library. Today, there are three branch libraries, John Steinbeck Library, Cesar Chavez Library, and El Gabilan Library, that provides hundreds of thousands educational and entertaining books, audiobooks, DVDs, Blu-rays, music CDs, newspapers and magazines, for free community borrowing with a library card. Our Digital Library available 24/7 to provide research resources along with digital downloads and streaming services. Library programs are available year-round for all ages and with various themes that meets the needs of Salinas community.

Volunteers are essential!

April 6, 2021

While the pandemic has put many limitations on volunteering in the library and elsewhere, we want to take a moment to celebrate two of our active Literacy volunteers that are making a difference by helping other adults learn computer skills.

David decided to become a volunteer after taking the Beyond Basics computer class. Prior to volunteering with the Literacy Center, he was a volunteer for United Way's VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) program for more than ten years. "I really enjoy helping others, and I really enjoy working with computers so I figured this...

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Students find success in library's Citizenship program

March 23, 2021

The Virtual Citizenship Classes at the library have been quite busy with people still asking about the new and old tests, and preparing for upcoming exams. It turns out that the changes imposed by the last administration in Washington which made the test longer and more difficult were reversed by the current Biden administration. As one might expect, this has created a lot of confusion but the Literacy Center staff have been there to help.

The Literacy Center has been conducting virtual study groups and one-on-one tutoring throughout the pandemic, and has recently had...

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Help us design our new state-of-the-art bookmobile!

March 17, 2021

Over the last four years we have heard from community members about how the library is used now, and how you would like to continue utilizing it in the future. Through dozens of community meetings, surveys, and public input events, we’ve heard you loud and clear: You want Salinas Public Libraries to be safe, accessible and inclusive community places for all ages , which promote curiosity and provide limitless possibilities with an innovative approach to life-long learning.

In an effort to continue to improve our services, over one year ago we applied for and...

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