Friends raising funds to stock library with books and more
By Oakley Brooks
As construction workers raised new walls at the Saratoga Community Library in the last few weeks, book advocates in town have been building up interest in another related effort--the drive to fill the library with new books and furniture.
The language of the $15 million library bond passed by voters in March 2000 states that the money be used only for construction and permanent fixtures.
Beginning in 1999, the nonprofit Friends of the Saratoga Libraries began collecting donations to outfit the expanding Saratoga Avenue building's ample community space and focus rooms and to increase the library's main stacks and specialty collections.
"The Friends have been collecting for three years to help make this happen," Friends Campaign Chairman Bill McDonnal says. "Now we're making the final push, so the people can use this place."
The Friends are looking to raise $370,000 this year to complete the library, to add to the $350,000 they've already set aside, along with the $380,000 the county library system will kick in for furnishings.
To attract participants to the "Furnish the Future" campaign, the group is offering small donors--in the $150 to $1,000 range--a chance to have their names inscribed on ceramic and wooden book spines or on designer bricks in several patios outside the new building.
The names of larger contributors of $5,000 or more will be etched on a bronze plaque on display in the library.
Friends leaders say a second wave of targeted fundraising--bent on attracting major donors--may follow.
But they say the first round, to be kicked off this month with a direct mailing in Saratoga, Monte Sereno and surrounding unincorporated areas, will allow every member of the community a crack at joining the funding drive.
"Every effort was made to include the entire community rather than a select few," McDonnal says. "This library belongs to us all."
Friends leaders are unsure how the community-wide appeal will play in a post-disaster, post-boom year, following an outpouring of support for Sept. 11-related charities this fall. Gone are the days when new Friends members dropped a $5,000 check in with their membership dues--something that had happened just after the March 2000 bond passage.
"This is a tough fundraising environment," campaign spokesperson Jim Givens says.
The Friends, now 1,100 members strong, are counting on the continued support demonstrated by a broad volunteer effort during the library bond campaign two years ago and the overwhelming support from the general public at the polls--the bond was approved by 77 percent of voters.
Library advocates are also keying on the idea that the new facility will strengthen the old library's identity as a focal point for a community separated by a half-dozen school districts.
"We don't have that common school bond like another city does," Mayor Nick Streit says. "The library is our main community focus. There's no question about it."
Library Supervisor Dolly Barnes is looking to diversify the community hub, beyond being a place for the traditional children's storytime activities and teen study halls.
In the temporary library, Barnes and other staffers have been testing book clubs and poetry readings.
The new 49,000-square-foot facility will also hold 74 computer units, including a cluster of machines in a new classroom. A café will give folks a place to hang out.
And Barnes will begin building out the library's current 175,000 stored and active volumes toward an expected 250,000 over the next 20 years. She says some of those new works will be specialized audio and glossy artistic collections.
All of this comes together under the roof of a growing building, where workers will frame the steel in the next couple of months.
"It's becoming more and more real," Barnes says.
To visit the Friends of the Saratoga Libraries and find out more about contributing to the new community library building, log on to www.FSLonline.org.
Saratoga, California Since 1955
