The tables at the Historic Del Monte Building were decked out with the best paper napkins, plastic-coated paper plates and plastic utensils in town.

It was the fifth annual Cheap as Dirt dinner, dance and auction.

The Oct. 19 fundraiser collected more than $34,000 for its main project, Reinventing the Libraries. The money raised will go toward the foundation's goal to get one teaching librarian in every Sunnyvale school by 2010.

The philosophy behind putting on the event was to spend as little as possible to net the greatest return, says Geoff Ainscow, the foundation's president.

"Everything is donated. The room, food, auction, drinks, room prep, everything," he says.

Tickets for the 250-person event were $50 and a silent and a live auction raised even more money. Because everything was donated, the event cost the foundation nothing.

"The money all goes to the schools," Ainscow says.

Donated auction items such as lunch with Mayor Dean Chu snagged $110, and a gourmet French-themed dinner for 10 prepared by and in the home of Nancy Tivol, Sunnyvale Community Services executive director, pulled in $1,600. Other auction items included a digital camera, basket of gourmet vinegars, auto detailing service, tax preparation service, portable DVD player and more.

There was even a door for the door prize.

Sunnyvale's school district of 6,000 students had no teaching librarians for 15 years.

"We brought in the first one last year at Lakewood school," Ainscow says. "The $34,000 will allow the district to keep her for another year." And business helps out, too. On Oct. 19, Lockheed donated $10,000 to the foundation.

Teaching librarians hold a four-year teaching degree and a two-year master's degree in library science.

California ranks last in the nation for ratio of students to teaching librarians in schools, according to Teacher Librarian, the journal for school library professionals.

States such as North Dakota have 312 students for every teaching librarian, and in Indiana there are 1,006 students to every teaching librarian. California has 4,363 students to every teaching librarian and Sunnyvale drops even lower, with 6,000 students to one.

The average for the United States is one teaching librarian for every 900 students, and Sunnyvale doesn't even come close to that, Ainscow says. He says the goal is to beat the average and have one library media teacher and a library clerk in each of the district's 10 schools.

"We never set goals to be average," he says.