October 9 Meeting for Friends of the Santa Cruz Public Libraries Chapter in Aptos
By Pete Cullen, President, Friends of the Santa Cruz Public Libraries
If you’re an Aptos resident and you love your local library, you have a golden opportunity this month to help make it an even better community resource. The countywide Friends of the Santa Cruz Public Libraries (fscpl.org) wants to see a chapter started in Aptos. An organizational meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on Thursday, October 9 at the Aptos library branch, 7695 Soquel Drive. Everyone is invited to attend.
The Friends is a non-profit organization whose members supports the 10-branch Santa Cruz city-county library system through fundraising, volunteer services and advocacy. We currently have about 1,100 members. Each year, the Friends raises about $80,000 that it donates to the Santa Cruz Public Libraries to pay for books, materials and programs for children and adults. Our two biggest annual fundraising events are our spring and fall used book sales (November 14 and 15 this year). We also hold a number of smaller sales throughout the year, such as the very successful one held at the Aptos branch in late August. A good portion of Friends dollars is generated through local chapters in Scotts Valley, Felton, Boulder Creek and La Selva Beach. The Friends board of directors approved a Capitola chapter last month. Aptos could be next. Our goal is to have a chapter for every library branch.
I will be attending the October 9 meeting at the Aptos branch, as will county Library Director Teresa Landers. We’ll tell you what’s entailed in founding a Friends chapter and, hopefully, identify a core group of volunteers who will carry the ball forward. This is your chance to step forward and join other community-minded people who love their local library and want to make it even better.
Friends chapters are especially important now that Santa Cruz Public Libraries is studying future building and services needs at all 10 branches. A Friends chapter in Aptos would give local people a stronger voice in the process. If you’ve had a chance to visit the Scotts Valley branch you’ve seen first hand what a strong Friends group can do. The new library that opened there three years ago is a model of contemporary library architecture, resources and services. If you’ve attended an event at the La Selva Beach branch you’ve experienced how a small library can seem much bigger with the enthusiastic support of a local Friends chapter.
For more information about the Aptos meeting, or about the Friends in general, please visit our website, fscpl.org or contact Cordelia Neff at [email protected] or 831-427-7707, ext. 7796.