Zip Books Program Loses Funding in State Budget
Small libraries used the grants to build collections on limited budgets.
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LOYALTON — Many of the books on the shelves at the Loyalton library carry a small Zip Books sticker near the front, marking titles ordered through a state-funded program and shipped directly to patrons’ homes. After 15 years, state funding for the program has ended.
The California State Library says the 2026–27 state budget omitted funding for Zip Books, leaving it unable to award grants to libraries that applied. For small branches with little purchasing power, the program provided a way to fill readers’ requests while adding new titles to the shelves.
Readers requested books the library system did not own, and library staff ordered eligible titles from Amazon for delivery to their homes. Afterward, the readers returned them to the library. Most returned books became available for others to borrow, according to Plumas County Library’s program description.
At Loyalton, Gail Verver, who handled the library’s Zip Books orders, said the station has no book-buying budget of its own and had relied on donations and the program to add titles. Sierra County partners with Plumas County to provide library service in Loyalton, Downieville, Sierra City, and Alleghany. Verver submitted book orders to the staff in Quincy, who checked prices and processed the purchases.
The program began in 2011 as a three-library pilot aimed at reducing the cost and delivery challenges facing rural libraries, according to Califa’s program history. Federal funding expanded it to 30 rural libraries in 2013, and a $1 million investment from the California Library Services Board supported a statewide expansion in 2016–17.
Lake County Library, which also stopped accepting requests after the funding loss, says the program supplied more than 350,000 books to Californians and their libraries since 2016.
Verver said the library headquarters in Quincy was looking for other funding apart from the state. The Mountain Messenger has reached out to County Librarian Dora Mitchell for comment but has not yet received a response.
Plumas County Library’s existing services include an online catalog for browsing books and placing holds, along with electronic books and audiobooks through Libby and the Palace Project. More information about Sierra County libraries is available online.