U.S. Passport Service Expanding to Los Altos Library

For Immediate Release
September 16, 2019

Third SCCLD Library to Become a Passport Facility

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CALIF. – The Santa Clara County Library District (SCCLD) is pleased to announce that Los Altos Library will begin offering U.S. passport services starting on October 1. This marks the third SCCLD library to become an official passport facility. The expansion comes more than a year after SCCLD first piloted the services at the Milpitas and Cupertino libraries, which have been well-received by customers.

“We have had more than 5,600 applications submitted since we began offering this service last spring,” said County Librarian Nancy Howe. “We are focused on providing important and relevant services to our residents. Our patrons are delighted to learn that several of our libraries are official passport acceptance facilities.  It’s an added bonus that they don’t have to wait in long lines and can book an appointment for an evening or weekend.”

The Passport Acceptance Facility will help people obtain first-time passports for adults and children, renewals for passports issued before the applicant was 16 years of age, renewals for expired passports issued more than 15 years ago, replacements for lost, stolen, or damaged passports, and provide passport photo services. The service is available by appointment only. Visit www.sccld.org/passport-services to select a time and location, find out what important documents you will need to bring, and applicable fees. Los Altos Library will begin accepting online reservations on Monday, September 16, 2019 with the first appointment on Tuesday, October 1, 2019.

Once submitted, passport applications typically take between six to eight weeks to be processed, with the option of paying a $60 expedite fee to cut that time down to two or three weeks. Passports will be mailed directly to the applicant by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs.

“This is yet another good reason for people to visit the Los Altos Library,” said Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors President and Library Joint Powers Authority Board member Joe Simitian. “Our libraries are so much more than just the great books. While folks are there for passport services, they can also find travel guides, use Rosetta Stone to learn another language, and discover other materials to help plan their business trips and vacations.”

An SCCLD library card is not required for the passport service, although one is recommended to utilize all of the travel-related information available at each library and through the online library. SCCLD has many free resources on travel, cultures, international food, and languages. A sample of SCCLD’s digital and hard copy tour guides is available here: http://bit.ly/2H8Kagi

Los Altos Library Passport Hours beginning Oct. 1:
Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday    10 a.m. – 5 p.m. (closed 1-2 p.m.)
Monday and Wednesday                   1 p.m. – 8 p.m. (closed 4-5 p.m.)

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About the Santa Clara County Library District

The Santa Clara County Library District (SCCLD) promotes knowledge, ideas, and cultural enrichment. Its collection includes more than 2 million books, videos, CDs, DVDs, Audiobooks, eBooks and extensive online resources accessible from home or work. In 2014, SCCLD celebrated one hundred years of service to local residents. For the last eleven years, SCCLD has been consistently recognized as one of America’s Star Libraries by Library Journal. In 2018, SCCLD was ranked among the top ten large libraries in the United States in the Library Journal Index of Public Library Service. In 2014 and 2015, SCCLD won Innovator Awards from the Urban Libraries Council.

SCCLD includes two bookmobiles, an online library, seven community libraries and one branch library serving Campbell, Cupertino, Gilroy, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Milpitas, Monte Sereno, Morgan Hill, Saratoga and the unincorporated areas of Santa Clara County. In 2018, SCCLD had nearly 370,000 library account holders and welcomed 3.3 million visitors who borrowed 9.85 million items.

Find the Santa Clara County Library District online at www.sccl.org
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Contact:
Nancy Howe/Diane Roche/Mariana Walker
Santa Clara County Library District
(408) 293-2326 ext. 3001/3080/3047