***** July 28, 2010

Felton Library Friends responds to the Grand Jury Report on the Santa Cruz Public Libraries

Felton Library Friends (FLF), a chapter of the Friends of the Santa Cruz Public Libraries, is dedicated to excellent library collections and services for the residents of Felton, Bonny Doon, Ben Lomond, Brookdale, Zayante, Mt. Hermon, and Lompico. Included in the Felton branch’s user population are some 16,000 people, including approximately 4000 children. The SLVUSD K-12 public school campus, located less than a mile from the branch, services nearly 500 middle school and nearly 800 high school students from the entire San Lorenzo Valley, as well as nearly 600 K-5 students. The SLVUSD home-school headquarters, as well as several private schools and pre-schools are located in the Felton branch service area. It also serves over a thousand seniors, a growing section of the population.

Central to FLF's purpose is support for the Felton branch library as an essential component of the community life valued by our library users, and support for a new 8,000 square-foot facility that will, for the first time, provide adequate library services to the southern San Lorenzo Valley.

The Report states that "one strategy proposed by library administration in March was the closing of some branches [including Felton and Boulder Creek], leaving the book and materials collections and the computers and turning the facilities over to their communities for use as reading rooms/learning centers," and then implicitly recommends this strategy "as an intermediate-term strategy to allow the SCPL system to focus and develop the financial foundation necessary to create long-term sustainability for a system that can be expanded again as future revenues increase."

None of the following issues is discussed in the Report: strategies other than branch closings, the effect on communities of closed branches, how reading rooms/learning centers would be funded and staffed in the event a branch were closed, the political implications of branch closings, and the fairness of branch closings in relation to resident contributions to the Library system (property and sales taxes). FLF strongly supports the coming work of the Task Force established by the Library Joint Powers Board to explore a variety of scenarios for system sustainability.

FLF strongly opposes the closing of community libraries in the San Lorenzo Valley, and strongly opposes the assumption that only the smaller libraries should be considered as branches to be served, in part, by volunteers at public service desks. The nearly 30,000 residents in the San Lorenzo Valley comprise a significant subsection of the population that supports the Library through sales and property taxes. The same population has been grossly underserved from the beginning of the Joint Powers Authority, despite repeated intentions and resolutions on the part of Library administrators and the Joint Powers Board to rectify this inequity.

In addition, FLF considers it unrealistic to think that the system will "be expanded again as future revenues increase," which presumably might include reopening branches that had been closed. Once a branch is closed, it will almost certainly be closed forever. For this reason, FLF holds that the closure of any branch must be considered only as a last resort, and only after all possible scenarios for financial sustainability have been extensively explored.

***** Thursday, June 24

THANK YOU, NEW LEAF COMMUNITY MARKET AND FLF SUPPORTERS -- COMMUNITY DAY BROUGHT OVER $1000 IN SUPPORT TO FLF

New Leaf Community Day for Felton Library Friends

Plan to shop at Felton New Leaf this Thursday, June 24 and support Felton Library Friends, who will receive the Community Day donation. New Leaf’s monthly Community Day promotes local organizations by contributing 5 percent of the day's net profit to selected nonprofits.
FLF members will staff a table with information about the organization and the summer programs for children at the Felton Library.

***** June-July 2010 Children's Summer Programs

***** May 2010 Joint Powers Board Meeting

Contrary to reports in the Press Banner, closure of community branches is NOT on the agenda for the May (or the June) Board meetings. The Board voted in April that for the year beginning in July, the Library would meet its budget cuts by trimming hours at the larger branches and cutting from the materials budget. However, a subcommittee of the Board will convene in June to consider long-term budgetary planning, and among the options to be considered will no doubt be closure of branches. Felton Library Friends will be joining with supporters of Boulder Creek, Garfield Park, Branciforte, and La Selva Beach to help the committee to find solutions other than reduction of the library system to four high-tech Taj Mahal branches, with five communities left without the branch libraries they love.

May Joint Powers Board meeting, Monday, June 7, 6:30 p.m., Central Branch. Agenda and Packet.

***** April 2010 Sixth Annual San Lorenzo Valley Poetry Reading

The Felton Hall meeting room was packed at this year's reading. Thanks to all of the participants and the audience for making it a true celebration of "place."

Our thanks to Jim Coffis for a marvelous review of this year's event.

***** March 1, 2010 -- Joint Powers Board Meeting, Monday, 7:00 p.m.

Have your say about library budget priorities at the March 1 meeting of the Library Joint Powers Board.

The Board and Director want to hear from the public about what is important as they begin to prepare next year's budget. Speak directly to the Board on Monday March 1, 7:00-9:30pm in the Central Branch Meeting Room.

Please consider speaking at this meeting. If you are unable to attend, we urge you to email or write Director Teresa Landers (addresses below) with your comments. Your letter will be included in the April Board meeting packet for Board members.

You may send your letters to Director Teresa Landers at: "Teresa Landers" <landerst@santacruzpl.org> or by mail to the Santa Cruz Public Library, Administration Headquarters, 117 Union St., Santa Cruz, CA 95060

***** February 2010

About twenty Felton Library Friendsmet with 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 monthly steering committee meeting Tuesday, February 23. The meeting was helpful in confirming the successful advocacy strategies FLF has utlized over the past five years, and in inspiring members to continue their work during difficult economic conditions.

****** 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.

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****** 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..