By Kai Arellano and Asyah Zamani

Several times a day, someone leaves a Sacramento Public Library branch with a pass that grants free admission to over 200 participating state parks.

In collaboration with the First Partner’s Office and the California State Library, the California State Library Parks Pass Program provides a free day-use pass through local libraries to people who have a library card. The pass is good for one vehicle with up to nine people. 

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s  proposed 2025-26 budget includes $6.8 million in one-time general fund expenditures to extend the lifespan of the Library Parks Pass program. 

Patrons can reserve a park pass on the Sacramento Public Library website, so long as they have a library card, which they can also register for on the website. The pass can be checked out for three weeks and then returned back to the library branch for the next person.

Stephanie Tafolla, who is the branch supervisor at Elk Grove Library, has seen library patrons get excited when they come into the library after their hold on a park pass has ended. 

“They usually share a background story on what they’re going to use it for,” Tafolla said. “It reminds me of why I do my job.” 

A Growing Program

Park passes are available in over 1,100 library branch locations, along with tribal libraries, said Adrien Contreras, assistant deputy director of park operations at California State Parks.

The number of  library park passes has increased to 33,000 statewide since the program launched in 2022, including about 920 park passes at Sacramento Public Library branches. 

“When the program first started, there were 5,000 of them that were sent out throughout the state, but it was very quickly recognized that 5,000 was not going to meet the demand,” Contreras noted. 

Reed Strege, library programs administrator at California State Library, said surveys of patrons who checked out the passes showed that many didn’t visit in the past due to financial barriers.

For example, a day use pass at Folsom Lake State Recreational Area costs between $10 and $12. 

“We found that 63% of people that responded to the survey said that the biggest barrier was the fees to their visiting a park,” Strege explained. “53% said that they only visited a state park between zero and two times a year. So a lot of the users were people that don’t typically go to state parks, which is exactly what we were targeting.”

Contreras said myriad recreational opportunities are available to visitors at the state parks, but they vary depending on the park.

“Folsom, for example, is a state recreation area that you can go kayaking, there are great trails for hiking,” Contreras pointed out. “We have state historic parks. Our beach parks you would go, and there’s not like a large developed trail system but you might just go sit on the beach and get a suntan and go swim in the ocean.”

Waiting for a pass

Tafolla said the parks passes during the spring and summer are the most popular, and library patrons seeking a pass then will most likely go on the waitlist unless there is a “lucky day” copy available.

Tafolla added that the “lucky day” parks pass has to be returned back to the library branch where it was checked out, but the other parks passes can be returned back to any of the library locations.  

“The reason behind the name is that you know, it’s your lucky day, if you come in and we have it and you can take it home,” Tafolla said. “So if we have a lucky day copy even though you might be 300 in line, we’ll give you the lucky day copy and you just skip that entire line.”

Tafolla reflected that, because the passes are popular, it depends on the amount of holds that are being filled up for them and for patrons to pick up at the Elk Grove Library. 

“We find that with these type of items, when people get notified that their item is ready for pick up, they are coming in that same day to pick it up,” Tafolla observed. 

When the parks passes were first launched in 2022, the waitlist was very high with about 400 people on it in the Sacramento Public Library system.

“That was the amount of names that were on our waitlist because they really wanted a pass, so it just kept growing and growing,” Tafolla said. “During the winter time, we see a lot more passes that don’t trap for holds, and we keep them here at the branch, and if somebody is interested, we check that one out for them that day.” 

Tafolla added the parks pass is not renewable because so many people are waiting to use it. 

“When they scan it at the park, it’s not activated anymore so at that point, the best thing you can do is just return it,” Tafolla went on. “If they have 100 people on hold for it, then we should not be renewing them.” 

If a library patron loses their pass, they can come into the library and let the staff know and there is no fee. 

“We don’t charge any fees for it, and so we just notify our collection services department so that it went missing,” Tafolla said. “We just remove it from the patron’s account. If you just come in and let us know, we can take care of it.”

Looking forward

The money from the general fund for the program goes for a range of operational costs to operate state parks. 

“There’s the maintenance stuff, where it is restroom, garbage can cleaning and general maintenance, but then there’s also paying for staff that are at kiosks that are there to take fees from visitors,” Contreras detailed. “We also have our interpreters that are out there providing information to visitors.”

Some parks are not participating because they are operated by a state park partner.

“Those park units are operated by other entities, so a lot of times it’s federal or local government, private entities, concessionaires,” Contreras said.

There is currently a proposal for the library parks pass program to be extended through 2026, but he said it would require legislative approval. 

“It would have ended December 31, 2024,” Contreras acknowledged. “It was approved for a one-year extension so now it runs through December 31, 2025.” 

He mentioned that if the program does shut down, various other passes are available to visitors or they can pay a fee at the state park. 

“We were very happy with the program,” Contreras stressed, “but as far as the decision to extend it, that is just a part of the state budgeting process.”