San Leandro History Room

The San Leandro History Room, located on the second floor of the main library, has an impressive collection of books and materials on California and local history.

San Leandro History Room
Collection Highlights

  • The San Leandro Historical Photograph and Document Collection with over 2,200 photos. Photos also available through our catalog by selecting the History Collection from the dropdown menu of the search bar.
  • Hayward/San Leandro city directories dating from 1925 to 1965
  • Local Middle and High School yearbooks from 1933 to Present
  • Alameda County Census Data from 1852 to 1920
  • Historic Maps including Sanborn Fire Insurance maps
  • Clippings and articles dating from 1960s to present
  • Local newspapers (PDF) dating back to 1856

History Room Services

Family tree showing several generations

Free Genealogy Walk-in Workshops every Wednesday from  2 pm to 5 pm on a first-come, first-served basis. Ask our in-house volunteer family history expert how to get started researching your family history. Please bring any birth or death dates and marriage dates for parents and grandparents, if possible. Exact dates are preferred, but just the year for any of the dates is acceptable to get your family history research started.

DIY Memory Lab logo with various pieces of AV equipment making up some of the letters.

Memory Lab
The History Room is also home to the Memory Lab, workstations with scanners and other equipment to digitize material. To learn more about the Memory Lab, visit the Memory Lab page. Please note that patrons must complete a mandatory orientation and book an appointment before using the equipment. 

Obituary Research is provided upon request.  The service charge for an obituary request from the San Leandro Library is $15, whether the search was successful or not. Checks should be made payable to the San Leandro Public Library Foundation. Searches are made for deaths in San Leandro only. The obituary search will begin after the service charge is received. Download and fill out the Obituary Request Form (DOCX).

Send your request to:
San Leandro Public Library
Obit Request
300 Estudillo Avenue
San Leandro, CA 94577