Grateful

Terry Sterling, Community Branches - East

Here is a very nice article written by Wendy Klemin to be published in the November issue of the Squaw Valley Property Owners Association newsletter.

As we approach Thanksgiving, I thought it would be nice to reflect on some of the things we have to be grateful for as a community. Thanks to the vision of some of our local community members, we have a beautiful library building as well as an activity room for the community to use. In December of this year, it will be 16 years that we have had this building. We have 24 active clubs that use the room regularly, and about 75 uses of the room each month. Groups have access to tables and chairs, microphone, television, a full professional kitchen, and other amenities. Our local Four Seasons Garden Club has provided a beautiful Nature Trail behind the library for the public to enjoy, and our Library Board supplies an army of volunteers to run our Annual Yard Sale to raise money to help in various capacities.

Behind the scenes there are numerous building needs that are cared for by the Fresno County Library. The Fresno County Librarian and the Associate County Librarian came up in September and gave a detailed power point presentation on the building. They covered how much it cost, where the various funds came from, and how much it presently costs to maintain. The building itself cost 1.1 million dollars. Sixty thousand dollars of that money was donated from local citizens and groups, such as the SVPOA. Presently Fresno County Library provides $170,000 annually to cover costs to run and maintain the building. Quite a few maintenance issues are taken care of that most people may not be aware of. I think it is a unique partnership that we have with the county in providing the building and services that we enjoy in our community. All clubs use the activity room free of charge. Locally we take care of mopping the activity room floor and keeping it clean, but all other maintenance is handled by the county. If anyone is interested in more details, feel free to contact me, or we can have another opportunity to view the presentation given earlier.

A society can not remain free unless it is educated, and that is a large part of the library’s function in our community. The Fresno County Library’s mission statement is to provide books, technology, programs, services, and more to inform, enlighten, and entertain people of all ages. I hope that everyone in our community will take advantage of the opportunities that are available to us through the library system. The library’s purpose helps to build and strengthen communities, and their desire is to help our community grow in positive ways.

Currently we are starting a local chapter for Bear Mountain Friends of the Library as a way to help promote library services for our area. The Library could not survive without the network of volunteers that help to keep it going. We have many wonderful members in our community that are very giving of their time and talents, and I hope many will want to participate in this organization to keep our partnership with the county library positive and strong. I am very grateful to be able to serve our community, and for the wonderful people I get to know through library service. We also have many wonderful people throughout the library system that support and contribute to the good of the Bear Mtn. Library. Our new County Librarian is Laurel Prysiazny, and she is a great asset to us. The Associate County Librarian is Pat Pondexter, who was the person in charge of the Bear Mountain Library project from the beginning, and who continues to serve us. Terry Sterling is our present supervisor for the Fresno County east side branches. Amy Gons is also a librarian that works at Bear Mtn. and Orange Cove branches. I think it is good to know and appreciate those that work for our collective good as a community. Many of the original community members who helped to instigate the library building are gone from us now, but many still remain that you may want to take the time to thank personally. Please feel free to contact the library for more information.

On December 4, 2010 at 10am we will have our annual Gingerbread House craft for children, parents, and grandparents to enjoy free of charge. This is a fun opportunity to do a creative craft, and enjoy friends and family. Please sign up to participate at the library. There will also be a photo op with Santa, which will benefit our local group of students who are traveling to Spain this summer.