(From the May 2018 Circle of Friends Newsletter)
Last January at a planning meeting of the Board of Directors, we committed to work to increase the membership of the Friends of the Castro Valley Library. Not only do the dues paid by Friends members help support library programs, but members receive information about upcoming events like our book sales and pop-up sales that increase participation and help us raise more funds for our library.
We have held a number of pop-up membership sales at popular library programs, and we have had a very positive response. At the Castro Valley Reads Grand Finale, we signed up 24 new members and made almost $400! Overall, we have added nearly 50 new members in the last three months. We hope to add 100 by June, and we need your help!
Encourage your friends and acquaintances who use the library and attend library programs to join the Friends. All the wonderful activities and events offered at the library are supported by the dollars we contribute. If you work in the BookSrore, please remind customers, especially those who shop there regularly, about the benefits of membership and encourage them to join if they are not already members.
In addition to our regular BookStore hours and our three-times-a-year book sales, we have been holding pop-up specialty sales targeted to specific audiences. Several of these sales have taken place to coordinate with the library’s very popular Musical Story Time. In these sales, we offer preschool children’s books, and we have often sold over 400 books in only two hours! We hope to have a music pop-up sale of compact discs in the spring at one of the library’s upcoming jazz concert series.
We currently have a great need for new volunteers to work in the BookStore. Several shifts are short-handed. We especially need volunteers who are able to work weekends, which are typically our most profitable shifts. If you are a Friend but not a BookStore volunteer, please consider signing up! It’s a great opportunity to help the library and to make some new friends at the same time. If you complete a Volunteer Interest Form (available at the BookStore) someone will contact to set up a training session. If you’re already a regular BookStore volunteer, please consider signing up for one or two weekend shifts per month.
Kay Wetherwax, President
Friends of the Castro Valley Library