***** February 2010
(rescheduled from January)
Please join the Felton Library Friends steering
committee and Fifth District Supervisor Mark Stone in a
discussion of the future Felton Library -- funding possibilities
and challenges -- as well as other issues related to library
services in the San Lorenzo Valley. The meeting will occur
Tuesday, February 23, 4-5:30, at the Felton Fire Station,
on Gushee St. This meeting was rescheduled due to illness.
****** October 2009
More than sixty residents attended the October
28 Town Hall meeting at the Felton Community Hall. Led by
Library Director Teresa Landers, they offered input regarding
the Felton branch and the entire Library system -- their
vision for the
next
ten years, their thoughts on strengths and weaknesses, as
well as future threats
and opportunities. FLF will keep its members informed as
the Strategic Planning process progresses.
The Library's
website includes
a wealth of data related to the Strategic Planning
Process, including notes from each town hall. Notes from
the Felton town hall are also posted here.

******
September 2009
Felton
Library Festival -- A Huge Success
FLF is grateful to all who made this year's Festival
a tremendous success. The Festival and
New Leaf Community Day together
added over $5000 to the fund that we’ll
use to launch our community capital campaign
for furnishings
and equipment
for the library once the base funding
is secured.
See the marvelous
slideshow of the Festival by Brian Frus
(Given Light Photography)
As important were the wonderful community connections --
residents meeting with Library Director
Teresa Landers and architect Teall Messer to discuss building
plans, families
enjoying delicious food and the musical
talent of the San Lorenzo Valley, and children creating
and swapping books
and enjoying many other wonderful activities
provided by community groups.
Special thanks to:
More than fifty dedicated community volunteers
who made the event possible.
Event preparation helpers: Ron Campbell,
John Fasolas, Ron Rickabaugh & Felton
Fire Protection District, Get Rooted Landscaping.
Children’s activities: Camp Joy, SVLUSD Charter Schools,
Mt. Hermon Playschool, SLVUSD Lunch Program.
Food Suppliers: Marianne’s Ice Cream, Redwood Pizzeria,
Phil Foster Ranch, Live Earth Farms, Desperately Seeking Chocolate,
Tacqueria
Vallarta.
Performers: Beth Hollenbeck and Jayme Kelly Curtis; Patti Maxine
and Friends; The Marbled Murrelets; Little People’s Theater
Singers
Sound and Photography: Julie Rix, Brian Frus
Drawing Donors: New Leaf Community Market, Cynthia Sandberg,
Renee Shepherd, Beth Benjamin, Cowboy Bar & Grill, Mama Mia’s, Tyrolean Inn, Oak Tree
Ristorante, Coffee 9, Cowboy Bar & Grill, Jenna Sue, Mt. Roasting, Spanky’s,
White Raven, Felton Farmers Market, Bookshop Santa Cruz, Capitola Book Café,
Logos, Friends of the Santa Cruz Public Library

****** May 2009
FLF
Statement Regarding Cuts to the Felton Branch
In light of the dire budgetary issues
facing all levels of government, FLF is focusing on retaining
community branches in the Santa Cruz Public Library system.
Members of Felton Library Friends attended recent meetings
of the Library Joint Powers Board, and spoke forcefully
against the closing of community branches. Once the library
system budget improves, we will advocate for restoring
some hours to the Felton branch, which had a greater percentage
of its open hours cut than any other branch. When the economy
turns around, FLF will continue its mission of supporting
a new branch building in Felton, plans for which have already
been completed.
Although the Library Joint Powers
Board voted to retain minimal service at all neighborhood
branches, there have been proposals that library service
be centralized in four large regional branch libraries,
with Scotts Valley being the closest to the San Lorenzo
Valley. FLF supports retaining service at community branch
libraries, close to children, schools, families, and residential
neighborhoods. Community branches best support literacy,
equal access for all County residents, and the cultivation
of lifelong learning in our communities.
FLF maintains that any proposal to move to a regional library system would
be counter to Measures B and R, in which voters authorized a 1⁄4
cent sales tax that is a core part of Library funding. These measures promised
to preserve existing libraries and extend branch library services to the
unserved and underserved areas of the County. They included the goal of "augmenting
branch library services in the underserved areas of...Felton [and] Boulder
Creek...through expansion and renovation of facilities, increased hours
of operation, and increasing available library materials."
****** April 2009
FLF thanks all who
participated in the 5th Annual San Lorenzo Poetry Contest
and Reading -- judge Rosie King, notable readers Jytte
Beatty, Kevin Collins, Susan Elgin, and Teal Messer, poets
who submitted almost 150 poems, and all who attended the
Reading on Wednesday April 29 at the Felton Community Hall.
Read the winning poems and
see photographs of the event

****** February 2009
FLF sponsored a tremendously
successful evening with Paula Poundstone in support of
the Friends of the Santa Cruz Public Libraries. The sold-out
performance and well-attended after-party benefited Felton
Library Friends and its ongoing advocacy of the new Felton
branch library. FLF wishes to thank Paula, Michael Horne
and Pulse Productions, Laurence Bedford and the Rio Theater,
New Leaf Community Markets, Trader Joe’s, Zayante
Vineyards, Michael Renwick, and the Valley Women’s
Club of the San Lorenzo Valley for their support of this
event.

****** February 2009
FLF is grateful to
longtime Felton branch supporters Kenneth and Shirley Whalen,
whose bequest of nearly $150,000 will contribute towards
our goal of creating a new branch library for Felton and
surrounding communities. More
information.
************************

****** April 2008
The Library Joint Powers Board approved the following resolution proposed by
Supervisor Mark Stone:
That the Board move to
set the Felton Library as the highest capital priority
and that no other capital money be spent on any other capital
projects including upgrades, remodels, changes or new starts,
until the new Felton branch is funded. For further clarification
this action would not apply to money spent from the operations
budget for normal capital equipment expenditures such as
for shelving, maintenance projects, etc.
****** June 2008
Members of Felton Library
Friends, a chapter of the Friends of the Santa Cruz Public
Libraries, worked hard in support of Measure R, the permanent
sales tax for libraries in Santa Cruz County. With a permanent
revenue stream for operating expenses, FLF hopes that long-term
plans, such as those for a new Felton branch library, will
be possible. FLF is pleased to report that support for
Measure R in the San Lorenzo Valley was very strong..
|