Library Bond Measure Fails
(11/6/02) Palo Alto's Measure D bond issue to improve local libraries
received 61.4% of the vote in the November 5th election, but failed to secure
the necessary 2/3 margin to pass. Our thanks to all who worked so hard to
develop plans for the library improvements and to those who created a vigorous
and visible campaign. See Palo Alto official
election results and the
Palo Alto Weekly article.
Library Bond Measure Garners Endorsements
(10/18/02) The San Jose Mercury News (read
article) and the Friends of the Palo Alto Library have endorsed Measure
D, the $49.1 million library bond project on this November's ballot. If
passed, the measure will upgrade the Children's library, provide a new Mitchell
Park library and community center, and supply matching funds for the Art
Center. Review summaries from the
City and the
Libraries. The Palo Alto City Council recently moved the proposed
location of the new Mitchell Park library so that adjacent tennis and
paddleball courts can remain (read the
Palo Alto Weekly article).
Library Teaches How to Tell Stories
(9/24/02) Have you ever thought about telling stories (not reading, but
telling)? Natalie Bivas will be presenting a free two-part workshop for
beginning storytellers on October 10 and October 24 from 7:30 to 9:00 PM at the
Palo Alto Children's Library, 1276 Harriet Street. Attendance at both
sessions is required. For more information or to register, call (650)
329-2134 or email katy.obringer@cityofpaloalto.org.
This series is sponsored by the Peninsula Story Guild and the Friends of the
Palo Alto Library.
Book Sales To Be At Cubberley Starting in December
(9/19/02, updated 10/18/02) We're very happy to announce a new home for our
monthly book sales. Beginning in December, our sales will be in 3,600
square feet of new relocatable buildings being leased by the City for us at the
Cubberley Community Center, along the north driveway immediately adjacent to
the Charleston Shopping Center. Our October and November monthly book
sales will still be at Terman and please continue to bring donations to that
site.
We are extremely grateful to the 650 people who recently signed a
petition that asked the Palo Alto City Council to find us new space,
and to everyone in the City government who helped out. Please see this
website over the coming months and the
San Jose Mercury News article (second item) for more about the new
location, and sign up for our free monthly notice
about the book sales.
September Book Sale Earns Record $14,000
(9/17/02) Our three-day sale this September was our biggest
ever, bringing in an amazing $14,000! All of these funds go to help Palo
Alto's libraries. Our thanks to the many donors, customers, and
hard-working volunteers who make our sales possible, recirculating over a fifth
of a million books into our community each year.
Friends Make $40,000 Contribution to Honor Mary Jo Levy
(9/15/02) To honor recently-retired Palo Alto Library
Director Mary Jo Levy for her enormous service to our community and our
libraries, the Friends of the Palo Alto Library are very pleased to to enhance
an area of the remodeled Children's Library in her name. The Friends have
contributed $40,000 for this effort, which will include a plaque to commemorate
Levy's longtime leadership. Read
more from the City Manager (sixth item down).
Book Sale Gets One Month Reprieve
(9/5/02) Our monthly book sale will be able to stay at
Terman for one more month, so the October sale will be in the familiar
rooms. In the meantime, Assistant City Manager Emily Harrison is looking
for adequate space for us to move to. We now have over 100 volunteers
helping to staff and manage the sales, putting in close to 12,000 hours a year.
Annual Meeting on September 13
(9/5/02) Our annual meeting will be held on September 13
from 6 pm to 7 pm at Terman Library at 661 Arastradero Road, right before
the member-only book sale. The meeting is open to all members of the
Friends of the Palo Alto Library and will have light
refreshments. Current nominees for seats on the Board of Directors
include Norma Burchard, Gretchen Emmons, Chris Kenrick, Gerry Masteller,
Shantha Mohan, Shelby Valentine, and Ellen Wyman; additional nominations from
the floor may be made at the meeting.
City Council Gives Final Approval to Library Bond Measure
(8/5/02) The Palo City Council unanimously voted on Monday, August 5 to put
a $49.1 million library bond issue on the November ballot. If passed, the
measure will upgrade the Children's library, provide a new Mitchell Park
library and community center, and supply matching funds for the Art
Center. Read the
San Jose Mercury article and
Palo Alto Weekly notice. Review summaries from the
City and the
Libraries.
New Home Desperately Needed for Monthly Book Sale
(7/24/02) 650 people recently signed a petition asking
the Palo Alto City Council to find new space to continue our monthly book
sale. On September 25, the Palo Alto School District will begin
remodeling the Terman site in preparation for a middle school in Fall
2003. This means that we will be losing most of our city-provided current
book sale space. With over 40,000 books for sale each month at incredibly
low prices, our book sale has become a Palo Alto tradition, as well as
generating over $100,000 in annual funding to support Palo Alto's
libraries. Over 100 volunteers help staff and manage the sales. We
don't want to have to shut it all down. Read the
San Jose Mercury and Palo
Alto Weekly articles. See the comments of
petition signers. Contact the City Council at
city.council@CityofPaloAlto.org. If you know of possible
facilities, please contact us at info@friendspaloaltolib.org
or call our book room at (650) 493-7432.
Book Sale's Amazing Success
(7/24/02) The Friends of the Palo Alto Library book sale has been an
institution in Palo Alto for many years. Besides helping raise money for
the local libraries, the book sale also keeps an astonishing number of books in
circulation. The Friends sell approximately 15,000 books each month to
members of the public and donate another 2,000 books to non-profit
organizations, such as local hospitals and schools. That comes to 204,000
books per year circulated by the sale, or 3.3 books per resident. That's
quite respectable when you consider that California public libraries circulate
on average just 4.9 items per capita a year, including videos. Moreover, the
Friends book sale achieves its considerable circulation being open just five
hours a month, using a few rooms in an old school and an all-volunteer
staff. When you compare the book sale to libraries, it ranks at the top
in terms of cost-effectiveness.
The Friends book sale exists because of the generous spirit of Palo Alto's
volunteers and donors, and our collective community interest in reading and
learning. Starting from very humble beginnings, the sale has become an
eagerly anticipated monthly event for thousands of Palo Altans.
Friends By-Laws Revised
(7/11/02) The
Board of Directors in their July 10, 2002 meeting approved some revisions -
major and minor - to the By-Laws of the Friends of the Palo Alto Public
Library. This is the eighth revision since the first amendment was made on
October 14, 1980.
The major change which affects our members concerns the election held at the
annual General Meeting. In the past, the Nominating Committee of the Friends
proposed candidates for officers (Board of Directors candidates who only serve
for a one-year term) and Directors (who serve a two-year term). In two of
the past five years, one of the officers presented to the membership for
approval at the annual meeting had to withdraw before the meeting was held.
Therefore, the Board voted to only present new director candidates for approval
at the annual meeting in the future. The newly elected Board will elect
officers for a one-year term at the first meeting after the General Meeting.
Other minor changes include (1) authorizing a majority of the remaining Board
members to fill vacancies in the Board between annual elections, (2)
authorizing the Board to hold the annual General Meeting in a month other than
October, (3) adding our ZIP code to our official address, (4) eliminating a
reference to a "membership year" running from July 1 to June 30 of the
following year (memberships become due on the anniversary date of the original
payment.), and (5) authorizing the Board to set the level when and where two
signatures are required on Friends' checks.
The new By-Laws are available online for your review.
If you have any concerns or comments, you can let us know by writing us at P.
O. Box 41, Palo Alto, CA 94301 or sending a message to
info@friendspaloaltolib.org.
Mitchell Park Library Proposals on Community Television
(7/11/02) The
Community Journal TV show has a segment covering modernization of the Mitchell
Park Library and Community Center in which FOPAL is included. The show
airs at the following times:
July 13 at 5:05 pm, Channel 28
July 14 at 7 pm, Channel 27
July 17 at 8 pm, Channel 27
July 20 at 5:05 pm, Channel 28
July 21 at 7 pm, Channel 27
(6/28/02) Palo Alto Library Director Mary Jo Levy plans to retire in late
August, after serving in the Palo Alto libraries for 30 years. Levy plans
to travel, read, and advocate for the November library bond measure. We
wish her a happy retirement!.
(6/19/02 and 6/27/02) The Palo City Council unanimously voted on Monday, June 17
to put a $48.7 million library bond issue on the November ballot. If
passed, the measure will upgrade the Children's library and provide a new
Mitchell Park library and community center. The Main Library and Art
Center are not part of this bond measure, which is reduced in scope from
earlier proposals. Read the
Palo Alto Weekly article and
Palo Alto Weekly editorial. The city council meets again on July
8 to decide officially about the bond measure.
Only a Few More Book Sales at Terman
(5/8/02) Because the Palo Alto School District will begin remodeling the Terman
site in September, in preparation for a middle school in Fall 2003, there will
be only a more monthly sales in our present book sale space. We hope to
find another suitable site so that we can continue our tradition of holding the
sales and using the proceeds to help the Palo Alto libraries.
The size of the book sale space determines how many books we can stock and thus
the revenue from our monthly sales. Because of increases in space,
donations, and volunteers over the last years, the sales have steadily raised
more each year, as this graph shows:
Participate in City Meetings about the Library
(5/8/02) Two upcoming meetings offer Palo Altans a chance to learn more about
the upcoming library proposal and to provide input. On
Monday, May 13, the City Council will hear the goals and purposes of a
second community survey on libraries and other community facilities and discuss
how to ensure all relevant issues are included in the survey. On
Thursday, May 23, the Main Library architects will review for the public the
two options under consideration at 6 PM to 7 PM at the Downtown Library at 270
Forest Ave. For more information on this second meeting, please call
Diane Jennings, Manager Main Library Services at 329-2668 or Mary Jo Levy,
Director of Libraries at 329-2516.
September Book Sale will be Terman's Last
(4/17/02) On September 25, the Palo Alto School District will begin remodeling
the Terman site in preparation for a middle school in Fall 2003. This
means that we will be losing most of our book sale space. We are
exploring all possible other sites. The City of Palo Alto has offered us
a 1,900 square foot portable at the Cubberley Community Center, but this is
much smaller than the 5,000 square feet we use at Terman. A smaller space
to sell books from means fewer books for sale, more used books going to
landfill, lower revenue from the sales, and less financial support for
our libraries. If you know of other space, please contact us at
info@friendspaloaltolib.org or call our book room at (650) 493-7432.
Public Design Review for Main Library Improvements on May 1
(4/17/02) The city will present results of a community visual preference survey
for improvements to the Main Library on May 1 from 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM at the
Art Center at 1313 Newell Road. The city also seeks public input on the two
building proposals.
More information. About 30 people attended the previous meeting
on April 13 (see Palo
Alto Weekly's article).
Public Input Sought for the Mitchell Park Library on April 24
(4/11/02) An additional community meeting to gather input on the proposed new
library and community center for Mitchell Park will be held on Wednesday, April
24 from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM at the current Mitchell Park Community Center at
3800 Middlefield Road in Palo Alto. The city wants to know what design
values you would like to see incorporated into the buildings, how to solve the
parking and pedestrian problems, and how landscaping and public art will be
part of the project. Child care will be provided and free pizza will be
served at 6:30 PM to 7 PM.
More information
Library Centennial Celebration on April 28
(4/2/02) Palo Alto's libraries are now 100 years old. Come to a free
celebration on April 28, 2002 at 4 PM to 6 PM in the Lucie Stern Community
Center Ballroom at 1305 Middlefield Road in Palo Alto. There will be
turn-of-the-century music, refreshments, a gallery of historical library
photos, re-enactments of great speeches from our library history, period
costumes, and a huge birthday cake. The first 100 guests will receive a
free full-color poster commemorating the 100th anniversary of the
Library. This event is cosponsored by the Palo Alto Women's Club and the
Friends of the Palo Alto Library, in collaboration with the Palo Alto City
Library.
(4/2/02) The City is holding a community meeting on Saturday, April 13 from 9 AM
to 11 AM in the Main Library Reading Room at 1213 Newell in Palo Alto to
solicit ideas and comments about the expansion of the Main Library. Two
site plans have been presented to the City Council. One calls for an
entirely new library and the other for adding on to the existing
facility. The architects will be present to explain the tradeoffs between
the two options and the guiding principles for the design.
More information.
(4/2/02) Palo Alto's Children's Library is the oldest freestanding library in
the country that is dedicated exclusively for children. The building was
designed by Birge Clark and built in 1940, with a grant from Lucie Stern, and
decorated with favorite scenes from children's books. Katy Obringer,
manager of the Children's Library, will talk about the library's history and
future at a free talk on Sunday, April 7 at 2 PM in the Lucie Stern Community
Center at 1305 Middlefield Road in Palo Alto. Refreshments will be
served. More
information.
(4/2/02) A community meeting to gather input on the proposed new library and
community center for Mitchell Park will be held on Saturday, April 6 from 10 AM
to 11:30 AM at the current Mitchell Park Community Center at 3800 Middlefield
Road in Palo Alto. The city wants to know what design values you would
like to see incorporated into the buildings, how to solve the parking and
pedestrian problems, and how landscaping and public art will be part of the
project. Child care will be provided.
More information.
Library Fee Increases
(3/25/02) Library fees have recently been increased due to the revenue shortfall
in the Palo Alto City budget. The new fees are:
Overdue
Fines: $0.25 per day / $6.00 maximum per item
Lost
Card Replacement: $5.00 per card
Interlibrary
Loan: $7.50 per item
Test
Monitoring: $20.00 per test for Palo Alto residents; $30.00 per test
for others
Where to Use the Main Library Wireless Internet
(3/25/02) If you're using the high-speed Internet wireless access in the Main
Library, where you sit determines how well it works. Here's a
map of the library showing where to get the best reception.
Libraries Significantly Understaffed, Report Says
(3/20/02) Palo Alto's libraries need 19 additional staff members to provide
adequate service, according to a report released by the library in
January. The libraries presently have seven managers, 49 staff members on
salary, and another 66 who are hourly. With a minimum of two staff
members required to keep each of the six branches open, there is little time
for other tasks such as planning improvements, introducing new services, and
weeding out the collection. The report states that, "staffing at
some locations is so tight that one unexpected absence severely limits the
quality and quantity of service available to the public." Library
director Mary Jo Levy hopes to provide the City Council with an estimate for
the additional 19 positions in April, but the city has meanwhile begun a hiring
freeze due to an $8 million budget deficit. For more information, see the
Palo Alto Weekly's article.
Both Main Library Renovation Plans Move Forward
(2/19/02) The Palo Alto City Council voted unanimously to move ahead with study
of two plans to improve the Main Library and Art Center. One plan would
replace the current Main Library building, while the other would retain the
reading room. Early estimates suggest that the plans would cost
approximately the same. The estimated cost for the Mitchell Park library
improvements are expected in March. The council will choose which
projects to include in the November bond issue by April 15. For more
information, see the Palo
Alto Weekly's article (second item).
(2/13/02) The Main Library building may be "historic" and thus
require an Environmental Impact Report, potentially delaying improvements or
replacement of the building. The Mitchell Park Library is not affected by
this. For more information, see the
Palo Alto Weekly's article.
(1/22/02) The Palo Alto City Council voted 8-1 today to support a November bond
measure to expand the Main, Mitchell Park, and Children's libraries. For
more information, see the
Palo Alto Weekly's article.
(1/20/02) To help achieve consensus on library improvements, the city is holding
two community forums.
Mitchell Park Library and Community Center expansion proposals will be
discussed on Thursday, January 31 at the Mitchell Park Community Center (3800
Middlefield Road) from 7 to 9 PM. The
Children's Library Expansion will be discussed on Thursday, February 7
at the Children's Library (1276 Harriet St.) from 7:00 to 8:30 PM. The
city will present design alternatives at these meetings and seeks your input.
(1/1/02) Find out about library and Friends of the Library activities
in January.
2001 Library and
Friends of the Library News
