02/16/2026
As we prepare for Generations Day this April, I wanted to share why we chose to change the format of our signature San Mateo Celebrates! – A National Library Week Festival event in its fourth year.
The shift was intentional.
Libraries are often described as a “third space”; not home, not work, but the civic commons where community life unfolds. In a moment shaped by a documented loneliness epidemic across age groups, that role feels especially urgent.
San Mateo is multigenerational and multicultural. We are home to young families, a strong senior population, longtime residents, and newly arrived innovators. The question is: where do these generations meaningfully encounter one another?
Around the world, communities are experimenting with intentional intergenerational design. In the Netherlands, the Humanitas Deventer en Voorst nursing home houses university students alongside older adults. In Japan, municipalities colocate daycare centers and eldercare facilities. In Seattle, Providence Mount St. Vincent integrates childcare and senior living programs.
The psychology is consistent:
• Children build empathy and social confidence through interaction with elders.
• Older adults experience reduced isolation and renewed purpose.
• Communities strengthen when age is not siloed.
When I look at the San Mateo Main Library, I see this same possibility.
Now celebrating its 20th anniversary, the building functions as a civic living room. On any given day, toddlers attend storytime, teens study, seniors read, parents work remotely, and neighbors cross paths organically. Few spaces overlap generations this naturally.
Generations Day grew from that observation. Rather than simply host another festival-style event, we chose to design a day that intentionally invites cross-generational participation — music, food, storytelling, and hands-on experiences meant to be shared side by side.
A healthy library reflects a healthy community.
A thriving third space strengthens place identity.
Stories told across generations anchor belonging.
San Mateo Celebrates! spans a full week of exhibits, speaker conversations, performances, workshops, and citywide activations during National Library Week. Generations Day represents a deliberate evolution in how we gather — centering intergenerational connection at the heart of our civic celebration.
The festival is made possible through sponsorships and grants. Early support from Bohannon Companies, Franklin Templeton, Genentech, C2 Education, SMSportz Design, LLC, Prometheus Real Estate Group, Kaiser Permanente, Recology, and the XELAY FOUNDATION reflects a shared commitment to strengthening community life through the library.
As we mark 20 years of the Main Library building, we honor it not only as architecture, but as our community living room and cornerstone; truly a place for everyone’s story.
—Sarah Meier-Heredia
Director of Development
San Mateo Public Library Foundation
