Automatic Renewals Now Available


Still haven't found out who the murderer is in your favorite new suspense thriller? Had to postpone movie night and need to return that DVD later? We understand how busy life can get and know renewing library items is the last thing on your mind. To ease the stress, San Mateo County Libraries, along with city libraries in the Peninsula Library System, opens a new window, are launching Automatic Renewals so you have one less thing to worry about.

How Automatic Renewals Work

Your account has already been activated to receive automatic renewals on your checked out items as long you have less than $15.00 due in fines. All eligible items will automatically renew one day before the due date. This applies to all cards in your family, including children’s cards. If you have an email address associated with your account, you will receive a notification that lists which items were successfully renewed and which items were not, if applicable. Please contact your community library directly if you are not sure if you have an email address associated with your account or if you would like to opt-out of this service. Staff will be able to turn this feature off for you.

What Items Are Not Eligible?

  • Items that are on hold for other patrons.
  • Items that have reached their renewal limit - whether automatically by our system or manually by the patron. (Each city or college library system has their own renewal limit. Please contact the owning library for loan rules on your item.)
  • Non-traditional items and devices.
  • Items that have already expired. (These will not be retroactively renewed.)

Your email notification will also include a survey for you to provide feedback on the service. Since this is a new program, we welcome any feedback that will help us improve it.

You will still continue to receive pre-overdue notices for currently checked-out items and are encouraged to return items on time or when you are finished.

“This is a wonderful feature. I'm a stay at home mom with two kids and sometimes the busyness of life gets in the way and we start to accumulate fees for our checked-out books. My kids are excited to go to the library and have new books to read, but the fees from forgetting to renew make it a challenge financially. Thank you for helping a mother out!” - Library patron