Your Library Account Frequently Asked Questions
Log in to your San Mateo County Library eBranch account. From the Online Catalog click the “Your Library Account” link toward the top of the screen. Please note that the first time you go to “My Library Account” you will be prompted to enter a PIN number for your library card. If you have already created your San Mateo County Library eBranch account please make sure that your library card PIN matches the number you entered in the PIN field of your eBranch account. Your library card PIN and your eBranch Password can be the same but they do not have to be. When you are finished checking your account, please remember to log out so that others will not be able to access it.
Your PIN (Personal Identification Number) helps to protect your library account from being used by others. Much like a bank ATM, the Online Catalog works best when you use a short PIN consisting of a few numbers – we suggest using the last four digits of the telephone number you gave us when you applied for a library card. If you cannot see your library account your library card may have expired. Please contact your local library to have your card renewed.
Log in to your San Mateo County Library eBranch account. From the Online Catalog click on the 'My Library Account' link in the yellow bar. Then click on the words “Modify Your PIN”. You’ll be asked to enter your old PIN, followed by the new PIN you want to use. After entering the new PIN and verifying it, click “Submit”. You will then need to update your San Mateo County Library eBranch account with your new library card pin.
Log in to your San Mateo County Library eBranch account. From the Online Catalog click on the 'My Library Account' link in the yellow bar. Then click on the “Modify Personal Information“ link, enter your email address, and click the “Submit” button. You will then need to update your San Mateo County Library eBranch account. After you add your email address to your library account, you will begin to get your notices by email.
Log in to your San Mateo County Library eBranch account. From the Online Catalog click on the “My Library Account” link. Then click on the link that shows the items you currently have checked out (“Items Currently Checked Out”). Next to each item in the list will be a check box. Check the box next to any items that you want to renew by clicking on it, then click the “Renew Selected Items” button to renew only those items. You can also take our brief online tutorial on Renewing Your Items.
Please note: Some materials cannot be renewed! Usually these are audio tapes, videos, new materials, items on hold for someone else, or items that have already reached their renewal limit. If you are unable to renew an item please contact your local library and ask for assistance or use our Help with Your Account form .
Yes. If you have access to a touch-tone phone you can use Telecirc, a voice mail interface, to renew items over the phone.
Please see the Email Notification FAQs.
Log in to your San Mateo County Library eBranch account. From the Online Catalog click on the “My Library Account” link. Then click on the "Modify Personal Information" link. If the box marked "Email" is empty, simply fill it in with your email address and click on the Submit button. You will now get your notices by email. For more information, see the Email Notification FAQs.
Log in to your San Mateo County Library eBranch account. From the Online Catalog click on the “My Library Account” link. In the white box on the left, click on the "unpaid fines and bills" link, and then click on the "Pay Online" button. You'll be prompted from here on. For more information see the Online Payment FAQs.
My Reading History is a record of the titles you have checked out from the library. It is accessible online when you login to Your Libary Account. The Reading History records the title, author, and checkout date for all items you check out. This feature also allows you to limit a search to items that are not recorded in your Reading History. Titles are stored in "My Reading History" until the Library no longer owns a title or you choose to delete a title from your list.
The Reading History feature begins saving titles you check out after you turn it on. Anything you checked out before Opting In to Reading History was not saved and cannot be retrieved.
- To turn on "My Reading History," log into your account and click on the blue "My Reading History" link. Next click on the gray "Opt In " button to the left.
- To turn off "My Reading History," log into your account and click on the blue "My Reading History" link. Next click on the gray "Opt Out " button to the left. If you have any items in your Reading History, you need to delete those items first.
- To delete items, mark the box beside each item and then select "Delete marked." To delete all titles, select "Delete all."
New Item Alerts send you an email alert when a new item is added to our catalog that meets your interests. You can set up alerts for new items by format, location, favorite authors, titles, subjects, etc. To set up a New Item Alert, first log into your library account. Then, run a search for the type of item you want to be notified about (e.g. an author search for “rice, anne”). At the top of the search results page, click on the “Save search to get new item alerts” button. Go back into your library account and click on the button for “New Item Alerts.” Check the box in the “Mark for Email” column and click “Update List.” You will now receive email notification every time one of our libraries adds an item matching your search criteria. There is a limit of 50 on New Item Alerts.
If you place a hold, the $0.75 hold fee will appear on your record at the time you place the hold. If you are canceling a hold, please contact your local library to see if the fee can be waived. For more on placing holds, please view our brief online tutorial on Placing a Hold .