(From the February 2016 Circle of Friends Newsletter)
Hello to all of the Friends of the Castro Valley Library. As the newly-appointed president, this is my first opportunity to tell you about the Friends’ past year and what is in store in 2016.
There were three general book sales held in April, August, and December of 2015 as well as a multimedia specialty sale and a Science Fiction specialty sale. The general book sales typically have eight to ten thousand titles available at the Friday night opening. The specialty sales usually have several hundred items. These sales events resulted in a bit over $9,000 revenue for the year. A new feature of the December book sale was a special section which featured books that were in such exceptional condition that they were considered “gift” quality. The “Gift Book” concept proved to be very popular and will be repeated.
Apart from the book sales, the four dozen BookStore volunteers who handled the receipt, sorting, and preparation of donated books for in-house, on-line, and off-site sales produced revenues totaling about $46,000 for the year.
The result of these efforts allow the Friends to provide significant support to the Castro Valley Library for a multitude of educational and entertainment programs offered to children and parents, teens, and adults that might not be otherwise
available.
We are looking forward to the same successes this year. The BookStore will continue on its six-day-a-week schedule. Book sales are scheduled for mid-April, mid-August, and early December. Specialty sales will depend on availability of materials in the particular genre. In keeping with this technological age, on-line sales are at Amazon.com, with social media at Facebook and Tumblr. A selections of books are available at Zocalo’s in San Leandro and at Castro Valley Yoga.
By the way, there is an opening on the Friends Board of Directors for a Director-at-Large. This position would run to
November. Contact me or any member of the Board if you would be interested.
Roger Caswell, President
Friends of the Castro Valley Library