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What do the Friends of the Palo Alto Library do?
The Friends of the Palo Alto Library support Palo Alto’s
libraries and its users through advocacy, volunteerism,
contributions, and book sales. The Friends fund many vital
library needs, such as expansion and renovation of the
Children’s Library, new books, computers and printers,
children’s summer reading programs, tutors for teens, and online
resources.
Palo Alto’s libraries get more visits and check out more materials per capita
than libraries in any other similar-sized California city. Since 1938, the
Friends of the Palo Alto Library have worked hard to support the city’s busy
libraries and devoted users. With 155 energetic volunteers contributing more
than 23,800 hours annually, the Friends have raised well over a million dollars
to improve Palo Alto libraries just in recent years.
Latest
Accomplishments
 | The wildly
popular monthly booksales at the Cubberley Community
Center, which find new readers for 270,000 books and
raise approximately $200,000 for the libraries each year. The
Friends encourage everyone to donate their used books,
CDs, and DVDs and also to attend the sales, where prices
are extremely reasonable. Unsold books go to schools,
other libraries, hospitals, prisons, Native American
reservations, and international relief efforts. |
| Advocacy before
the City Council to keep all of Palo Alto’s libraries open and
well-funded.
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| Initiating
the campaign to expand and renovate the cramped
Children’s Library. In cooperation with other local
library organizations, over $1.1 million in private
funding has been raised to date. The project is
underway and scheduled to be completed in 2007.
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| Co-funding an
after-school tutoring in the Main Library in conjunction
with a grant from the Palo Alto Weekly Holiday Fund.
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| Underwriting
the summer reading program for children and teens and
many ongoing children’s events in the libraries.
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| Informing Palo
Altans about the libraries and library issues through
the Foreword quarterly newsletter, a monthly
online newsletter,
news on our website, and
public forums.
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| Expanding the
library collection with many new books and other
materials via the Library Lovers Fund, which has
received over $200,000 in donations through the years.
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| The 9 Libraries
Project, funded by a Cable Co-op Legacy Grant of
$422,000, to put new computers, color laser printers,
and wireless connections in the libraries, as well as
Internet-based resources for use from anywhere. For
example, Palo Alto Library cardholders can now search
through and access the entire New York Times, starting
with its first issue in 1851. |
Membership
The
Friends of the Palo Alto Library is a non-profit
membership organization, with tax-deductible annual dues
beginning at $15 ($10 for seniors and students).
Members receive coupons for the booksale, early
admission at an annual sale, discounts at local
bookstores, Stanford Federal Credit Union eligibility,
and the infinite delight of helping Palo Alto’s
much-loved libraries. Join
today online or by mail. More Information
Officers and Committee Chairs
History
By-Laws
Standing Rules
Brochure
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