Summary:
Lois Laine was President of the Friends of the Lafayette Library in the late 1980s. She became part of the Lafayette Vision Committee, a diverse group of individuals which was assembled by Anne Grodin to anticipate the growing city’s future needs. In this interview, Lois Laine describes how the committee proceeded to recognize that the existing library was inadequate for the community and to launch the effort which would result in the new Lafayette Library and Learning Center which opened 20 years later.
Oral History:
Brenda Hepler: The name of the person being interviewed is Lois Laine, and she’s been interviewed by Brenda Hepler, and the date of the interview is June 12, 2009. For Linda Peterson, what is your first question?
Lois Laine: No, no, I’m not Linda Peterson.
BH: I know, but this is for Linda Peterson because it’s your basic question.
LL: Okay.
BH: Your best childhood memory of libraries?
LL: Just being in a library, a building with a those books was the most exciting thing I can remember. I was always avid for books, and I had an older sister who could read, and being extraordinarily jealous, and then getting into a library and all those books, which eventually, of course, I was able to deal with.
BH: Oh, thank you. And where was it?
LL: We lived in a small town in Pennsylvania outside of Pittsburgh. Very, very small. So the library was essentially like one room in a school, as much as I can remember of it, which isn’t very clear.
BH: What was the name of the library?
LL: Glassport.
BH: Glassport.
LL: Pennsylvania.
BH: And what were your favorite childhood books?
LL: I was trying to remember, and one that I had never forgotten, and I was looking for, because I was going to show you, was the Green Fairy Book. And I have no idea why, but, and I’m not, I don’t think I could read much of it, but I loved that book, and I had it. I must have put it out for my grandchildren or something. And also, when I was a better reader, I went through the Tom Swift series.
BH: Oh, great. Wonderful. And what awareness of community did you have growing up in this small town?
LL: An enormous amount, because my grandparents lived there, one set of them. It was very small. My aunt taught in the school. And for as long as I went to the school there, I would hear they, some of these teachers had had my father or aunts or uncles in school. So you can imagine, I can figure they were pretty old. They were pretty old. But it, everybody knew everybody. And it was that sense that you, it never occurred to you to really be bad, because somebody always saw you and knew you and knew your parents.
BH: What was the population?
LL: I can’t, I can’t, I can’t answer that.
BH: A thousand, two thousand?
LL: Something like that. Yes.
BH: And your education? Did you go off to school in this small town?
LL: No, we moved to Los Angeles.
BH: Okay.
LL: So mostly from about junior high on, or slightly lower, I went to schools in Los Angeles.
BH: Okay.
LL: And then I was at Los Angeles High School, which had a separate library across the street. And it was built, the school had a swimming pool and a library. And apparently they had built the school for, or at the time Los Angeles had the 1932 Olympics there. And they had built the school or the swimming pool, I don’t remember anymore. For the Olympics. And of course they felt they needed, apparently needed to have some status, so they built a separate library. And I thought that was the most exciting place I’d ever been. Every day after school, I would go over and get a book. And my father actually thought that I was in school, because I never got home until about five o’clock. And then one day he found out that I wasn’t even in school all that time. But not a bad place. But it was the idea. I was reading everything. I read every book Pearl Buck wrote. I went through authors, you know, by author, not by book.
BH: And then after high school did you?
LL: Yeah. Yeah. Went to UCLA and Cal. And then I got a Master’s in Communication in the City. I was working in the City and I was going to school at night.
BH: And what were you doing in the City?
LL: The next budget is work experience.
BH: Oh.
LL: Well, I had worked for a market research house and then I went to work for Wells Fargo. And originally got in because they were doing a research survey, a study on dentists. So that, but then I worked in the retirement programs division and ended up managing. We were doing IRAs and POs and steps and we were the number one IRA bank in the nation. And then we started selling 401Ks to companies across the United States. So it was, it was quite a place.
BH: Yeah. By the time.
LL: Oh, extremely.
BH: Yeah. And as an adult, was this before you were married or while you were married, were you working after you were married?
LL: Uh, no, I had the children and, uh, and no, I wasn’t working then. And then, um, we were divorced and I went to work and I was working full time in the city.
BH: Oh.
LL: And, and of course the kids were still at home.
BH: Yeah. But you kept working in the City.
LL: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
BH: Oh, wow. And, um, so that you had the three boys and you were working for the City. Did you have any time for community experiences or what were your community experiences?
LL: Very, very, very limited.
BH: Yeah.
LL: Virtually none.
BH: Yeah.
LL: Simply because, uh, as I said, I was working full time and then I was working on the degree, which was a good effect, a good, uh, effect on the kids because I had to study and they had to study. But the thing I, once my oldest got a, uh, was 16 and driver’s license, he had to borrow the car every evening so that they could go to Pleasant Hill to the Library because they complained bitterly about the Lafayette Library. It was never open, they never had the book, you know, all of that stuff.
BH: Yeah.
LL: So we always had to go to Pleasant Hill.
BH: And what attracted you to Lafayette and when did you come to Lafayette?
LL: Uh, we moved up to Lafayette. We had lived in Santa Barbara and, uh, and we moved up here because my husband was working out of San Francisco. And the reason we moved to Lafayette is I was checking the school system. We had friends that lived in Marin and wanted us to move over there. But the, uh, we looked on the Peninsula and only liked it moderately. It was a fair bit more expensive. But the best school rating was in Lamorinda. Uh, and it was something like, and I’ve forgotten the exact number now. 85, 88 percent of the students went on to the university. And the graduation rate. And, um, I had, um, my oldest was in about second grade. Uh, and the middle one was, uh, maybe in kindergarten or maybe one grade higher. So schools were of major importance.
BH: Yeah. And, um, I think there’s a long question to, you know, think about it. But we couldn’t figure out how to do it any particular thing. Thinking of the goals of a community, in other words, what makes a community have a place of of mutual support, shared value, and acceptance of difference. How do you see Lafayette using those goals? Diversity, shared values, and acceptance of difference.
LL: Um, diversity, what was the first one?
BH: No, it’s mutual support, shared values, and acceptance of difference for diversity.
LL: I think, uh, shared values in this community. The other thing that, um, is outstanding about Lafayette is, um, it’s a very, um, level community in terms of most of the residents have higher education, higher level of education. Um, and it’s certainly affluent because the, uh, average income level is very high here. So, on the first two points, it means, um, everything you would want to have in a community.
BH: Part of mutual support.
LL: Mutual support. And, uh, I had found people very, uh, supportive. They’re, they’re very comfortably well-off, but nobody, uh, they’re obviously a lot that are extremely well-off, but mostly people were very supportive because they said I was working full-time, and a lot of times I needed somebody to drive somebody to a whatever, and, uh, everybody was always very cooperative. I would be my share, they would be theirs, but people went out of their way to be helpful. As far as diversity, we have virtually no diversity, uh, or very little, uh, in terms of racial, color, uh, income. It’s, it’s pretty much across the board. What little diversity there is, um, is fine. I think people lean over backwards if they finally, if any of us finally find somebody in town who’s different in any way, uh, everybody is rushing out to try to include them. And we really found that with the library project.
BH: Oh, yes, yes. Um, now, when did you come to Lafayette?
LL: Uh, 1969, I believe it was.
BH: Yeah. So, what were your earliest memories of the Lafayette Library? You told me a little bit about when the kids were in high school, but…
LL: Yeah. Well, um, before I moved here, we lived down, uh, on the hill up above the Cape Cod house. So, uh, I had to drive, mostly drive them, or they would ride their bikes. And we would go to the library so that they could take out books, uh, age-appropriate books, which, you know, there’s a limit how many you have. And it was always that little library. But it never really bothered me because it was, um, uh, it’s a little town and the little library. But when it began to be a problem, as the boys got older, uh, yes, they could order books. The library would order books, specific, uh, books that maybe they needed for classes or what have you. But it was so limited in what was available. Uh, and that’s why, as I say, the complaints grew the more capable they were of driving.
BH: Yeah. Um, and, you know, how often do you personally use the Lafayette Library, uh, you know, as an adult? Uh, I mean, uh, uh, without children living at home.
LL: Uh, uh, well, when I was working in the City, I didn’t use it a lot. There were several. The business libraries in there were, uh, and that made a difference. Uh, but really I used it mostly just if I wanted something to read. But I tend to do all my library ordering online, which is very convenient, and then it’s delivered to the library. And, um, I think that’s…
BH: So you would go to the Contra Costa?
LL: The library site.
BH: And then, well, then that’s usually the library site.
LL: Yes, absolutely. But that was always it. And I, um, I must have been going down because I remember the first librarian I remember, I want to say her name was Ann. She died. She hadn’t been here very long. Long time ago.
BH: That’s right?
LL: No.
BH: Oh, yeah.
LL: Way before her. Yeah. Because then there was somebody else, and then Laura O’Donoghue, and… Yeah.
BH: How do you feel libraries serve the community?
LL: I think in a community like this, where, um, where you have, uh, people who are accustomed to using libraries, people that have a fairly common level of education, I think at that point, everybody is accustomed to using the library. You take it for granted. I mean, I used to, I probably spend half my life at Cal in the, in the library, you know. Uh, so that using a library is something that we all take for granted. I think in, uh, less, in communities that have lower educational levels among the residents, um, there’s less use of the library. But we take it for granted that, uh, I can either get it at the library, I can order it through the library, or something to that effect.
BH: Um, and when did you become involved with the library?
LL: Oh my gosh.
BH: Yeah.
LL: What a, what a question.
BH: Yeah. Uh, because I have, uh, have you been involved with the library over the years? So let’s just kind of go with, um…
LL: It’s hard to say when.
BH: Yeah, roughly.
LL: Uh, initially I had joined the Friends, and I was on the Friends Board. And, um…
BH: You know, roughly, like, is that in the 80s, the 90s?
LL: In the 80’s.
BH: Mm-hmm.
LL: Um, and I was on the Friends Board, and I’ve been on the Friends Board, seems like half my life. And I’m the President now.
BH: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
LL: You know, everybody runs through. They, um, so that there was this ongoing, and, you know, it’s, it just always made sense to me. I, I just can’t tell you, um, when it comes to books, and I think most people who are working on, uh, at the library, um, I have an absolute compulsion to read. I keep books in my car, I keep magazines in my car. Heaven forbid that, um, you know, I have to sit in traffic, I’ll have something to read. When I go on a trip, I plan the books I’m taking. And when my kids were little, I could hold a baby, give them a bottle, and read a book at the same time. So, okay. Uh, and it’s a real compulsion. I mean, if I can’t read anything else, I’ll read the ingredients on the cereal. Okay. Everybody says, everybody’s got the same, um, I’ve got the question.
BH: Well, we’re talking about your involvement.
LL: Oh. Yes. Yes. Sorry. Yeah.
BH: Did you have time for any other community organizations, or did you pretty much focus on the Library?
LL: That was, that was pretty much it. Yes.
BH: What was working in it?
LL: And where, where it really got started is, um, Anne Grodin had put together a group, and I’m sure you’ve heard all this, uh, um, yeah, we’ll call this something 2000, Library 2, I’ve written,
BH: Vision 2000,
LL: yeah. I’ve written up the whole……
BH: You were involved with that.
LL: Yeah. Before that, yes. And so that we were meeting, uh, and it really included people from every walk of life. And, of course, what we were hearing was that, uh, library, libraries are passe, people aren’t reading, you can now get it online, and all of that. Uh, we met on that, um, but I think prior to, I can’t remember if it was prior to or after that, a group of us went around to libraries around the Bay Area. We went down the Peninsula, there were a number of brand new libraries involved there. Anne Grodin, Mary Ann Hoisington, and there were just a couple of others. And we visited libraries, uh, mostly the newer ones, and talked to the librarians. What did you like? What didn’t you like? How did this work? How did that work? And, uh, so that we had a really good feeling about the advantages or disadvantages of building a new library.
BH: And this was roughly, this Vision 2000, started itself in 1990s?
LL: And, and, yeah, in, or earlier, actually.
BH: Mid 1990s. Mid 1990s.
LL: I’d say late, late 80s.
BH: Oh, late 80s.
LL: You know, I have, which I could give you in check, uh, I’ve written up a whole, uh, piece on this, that I can give to you, which probably would be useful. I, I forgot I wrote it up for some other purpose.
BH: Oh, really? Wonderful.
LL: And I, I know, it’s just, you know, a paperwork up to here. Um, and I don’t remember when we started, but it would have all that in there. Uh, and it was sort of two fold, because at the Vision 2000 meetings, meetings, we did have a few people come who pointed out how passe libraries were. People are not going to be reading books, et cetera, et cetera. So, um, by exploring all these libraries, uh, it really was advantageous. In fact, in front of the library we have now, right in front of the checkout counter, there’s, uh, a stand with a jar where you can drop change or dollars in. And actually we got that library idea from the Palo Alto. I saw it, I think, at the Palo Alto Library. And decided what would work for us. And somebody came forward and said he would make that stand and the jar. And, uh, and the Friends, um, take the money and use it. But we get a couple hundred dollars every month in that, um, that people will contribute. You know, either they’re paying a bill or they have a dollar or the kid wants to drop money in. It’s an additional source of income. So anyhow, those visits to the other libraries were very, very useful.
BH: Okay. We are now going to talk about in, um, more detail about your, uh, group that, that was involved with the Vision 2000, uh, relative to the Library of 2008, the new Library. And, um…….
LL: 2009.
BH: That’s not too close enough.
LL: However, close enough.
BH: And, um, how did this Vision evolve into a real plan? Um, this is, you know, this would be the outlining steps of how it evolved into, how it evolved, and the plan that was developed. And then we’ll go into the, the contributed project. Okay. So, you know, maybe this would be chronological.
LL: I’ll try. And then, as I said, I’ll get this report and we can fill in things that, frankly, I don’t remember. Okay. But, uh, Vision 2000 started with a representative from virtually every single group or organization in Lafayette. Uh, there were a lot of supporters of the idea of, uh, do we need a new library question? And there were a few who, uh, felt that libraries are passe, nobody reads, et cetera. Um, and computers were the coming thing and we were behind time. Um, the, the group moved forward and, I, I have to refer back to my report for details there. Uh, and that’s when we started doing, um, visits to libraries around the Bay Area, new libraries, which mostly were on the Peninsula. Um, virtually none of them were in Contra Costa or Alameda at that, at that time. And the more libraries there were, um, about four or five of us, and again, I, I can’t remember who all, uh, that were doing these regular, once a week or however often we were going, um, driving over to these other libraries. It was extremely helpful. We would, you know, obviously have an appointment with the Librarian. We would, excuse me, we would go through, uh, why they built a new library and generally the reasons were very similar to what we had entertained in Lafayette. Number one, it was too small. For example, our library, 7,000 square feet, was built for an original, originally built for a population of about 12, uh, 14,000 people. We’re now, at that time, we were up to 22,000 and now we’re 24,000 plus. So, the libraries were too small. Um, there was a lot of dissatisfaction, particularly with the students, but with the adult parents as well. Um, so, what we were finding, we were visiting communities that were similar to Lafayette. A fairly small, relatively small size, but fairly well-educated, affluent population. And it was very helpful when the librarians would tell us, hmm, even some silly basic things like, the ceiling was so high, and the lights were up there, they couldn’t dust. Um, you know, it’s interesting what you can find out by listening to other people. So, we had a number of those visits, and right off the top, I can’t tell you how many. Um, but the general consensus was Lafayette needed a new library, and everybody involved was supportive. There were, of course, as I mentioned, a few objections. But, uh, given that there were so many people from the variety of groups, it, it was the general consensus of support. Um, and one of the things that we did is went to the Friends of the Lafayette Library and, um, put the question to them. Would they become the primary fund raisers, raisers, um, for getting money towards a new library, which obviously the City could not afford, and nor would the County build for it. Uh, the Friends entertained the subject, there was a lot of discussion, and they felt that they were not in a position to organize, or to direct a major project like that. That their primary purpose, and still is, is supporting the library, the librarian, and the book collection. But to suddenly turn off into a massive fundraising requires, um, uh, just a whole different set of needs than the, the Friends felt they could offer. As a result, what we did is regroup and decide we would put together a Foundation that would be the, uh, that would, uh, have as one of the objectives, uh, being a, uh, a fundraiser for the new library. In the course of setting that up and discussions, et cetera, um, Bob Fisher was involved a little bit, uh, Anne Grodin, as I said, was a major force there. Uh, we, uh, were meeting with people from the East Bay Foundation, East Bay Community Foundation, who is a major, uh, foundation, uh, in the East Bay. And, um, they recommended, we were working with, um, Michael, and I can’t remember his last name right now. They recommended that rather than setting ourselves up as the Lafayette Library, uh, Foundation, to become a Lafayette Community Foundation so that once you did your fund, once your fundraising was completed, uh, we could move on to other tasks. So we eventually evolved, excuse me, evolved into the Lafayette Community Foundation.
BH: A quick question. So this Lafayette Community Foundation did not exist until the beginnings of the Library.
LL: Right. And I also have materials on that. I wrote all of those brochures. Okay. Uh, yes, that’s correct. So we formed, uh, Lafayette Community Foundation under, with a lot of help, uh, from the East Bay Community Foundation. Uh, and, uh, by becoming a general, uh, a community foundation, uh, we were able to enlarge our focus. So, uh, there were various people invited to be on board. A lot of us that had been involved with some of us, you know, moved on to that foundation as well. And, um, and we started as our first major project, uh, was fundraising for the new library. But we did, uh, set up, we have a grants committee and set all that up so that even with early collections, we, uh, always had it. You could either donate to the library or for other, if you had specific areas. And, and, and the advantage of that, uh, that was in early 1999, and I’ll give you that information too. Um, as we move forward, uh, we found some people, uh, were more interested in the library. But we were getting, uh, donations that went to other causes as well. So being a general foundation was advantageous. Um, and so we were the head, we were the chief fundraisers, uh, through, uh, getting $14 million. Now, a lot of that, those donations were from private solicitations from people. And, of course, once we got started and there was a nucleus of people to do the planning, get it organized, you started getting a lot of volunteers, coming in, helping, doing the fundraising, and so forth.
BH: So this, uh, was really the first community foundation that Lafayette has ever had. You have, you have a school foundation.
LL: Right.
BH: Now, this was part of the community.
LL: Right.
BH: Very good. Um, who was on the strategic task force? Do you remember all their names, or just some of them, or?
LL: I can’t, no.
BH: Okay. It’s okay. We’ll get it later.
LL: I remember a few, but I, I really don’t.
BH: And we talked about this, but it just, if you have anything more to say on it. What do you think created the change from the limited number of people named as contributors to the largest groups that came forward?
LL: Uh, I think the interesting thing is, uh, a library is something, is a rallying point. It’s broad. There’s, there, except for a few people, there aren’t a lot of things that you can object to about a library. You know, it isn’t sexist, racist, or whatever else that people object to. And it’s something that they saw, and the way we presented it, and the early materials, and so on, was that this is something for the entire town. People moved to Lafayette primarily for the schools, and it’s an affluent community, and what do you need in a community like this that is something that people point to with pride? And boy, if it isn’t a library, what is it? I mean, your schools are already top-notch.
BH: I’ll tell them.I’ll tell them.
LL: You realize some of this I have to realize.
BH: Right. But it’s all, when we’re talking about, I mean, how you think more and more people got involved, this is just, you know, a feeling. We have no exact data on it, but trying to find out what brought more people in. What was the catalyst that might have encouraged people to step forward that might not have stepped forward before?
LL: That’s a tough one. Are you on?
BH: Yeah, I’m on.
LL: Oh, sorry. Well, we had, it became with the formation of the Lafayette Community Foundation, LCF, we broadened the number of people that were involved. Everybody knew somebody, so that as you start bringing your friends in, and then a number of them knew people that they could ask for contributions, and that gradually we created a more formal organization. Originally, we were meeting at Phil Turnin’s office, and Don Jenkins was there, Gwen Lennox, and me, and I think that was it. And we realized, as we started to move forward, we were doing things in a sort of scattered approach. You know, I’d see you and say, hey, Brenda, do you want to join us? You know, you’d get people that way. What we realized is we needed a more formal, as I say, more formal approach, and what came up is the need of somebody with experience. At that point, the person that came up to hire was Bob Fisher, who I’m sure you’re going to talk to. Bob, of course, came with, had been president or CEO of the San Francisco Foundation, which is an enormous foundation, and helped us really to function moving forward. The second thing we did, or maybe that was the first, I don’t know which came first, was having Gwen Lennox step up and to be chair of the group. She’s an incredible person, absolutely outstanding, wonderful background, and is well, extremely well respected, well-liked in managing. She handles meetings incredibly well. You probably know all that. So that what we did is we started putting some organization around it. It was less of a haphazard pop shot. We started writing materials. I’d written the very first, which must be around someplace, brochure, talking about what we’re doing, why we were doing it, and we were very careful to always be very clear about why we needed a new library, what it was going to offer. And then, as we started with these early materials, and, as they say, more and more people came aboard that came on to help. Somebody would know somebody who was a good person to ask, obviously could be a substantial contributor. And Roger Falcone had suggested that the Lawrence Hall of Science would be a good partner. They have all these things.They’re looking to get out into the communities, local communities. Well, once that idea came up is why just stop with Lawrence Hall of Science? There are all these other organizations that they may be located in San Francisco or Oakland, but their primary source of membership and income is from the affluent societies. And most of us had worked in San Francisco. I belonged to the Fine Arts Museum for years, one after another, so that they were more than willing and loved the idea of being able to come out and to become partners. And Bob Fisher was, of course, knew a lot of these people, these organizations, and made a lot of those contacts. So that was how, and of course this is over a period of time, the consortium group was formed. And it was a two-way advantage. We had the advantage they were going to be offering programs out here. They had the advantage of being able to solicit our population. So it was a feel-good. But in addition, what we needed was, and of course the County thought this was great, what we needed really was to become more than just a local library, you know, just for our own benefit here. Orinda had already built their library. Fortunately, they were fortunate because they were fundraising in the late 90s when money was very plentiful. By the time we started fundraising, that’s why we had hired this market research firm, is the market had gone down, there had been the crash of the tech firms, et cetera. So what we needed was to have a broader base for our library. And one way to do that was, if we were going to have this consortium concept, was to say, not just say, but to actually, we could offer it countywide. And there are, of course, a lot of libraries in far less affluent communities further east in Contra Costa. And so we directed ourselves in that direction so that we, with the consortium concept, we had something very unique to sell. So it was much easier if you were a person who would be willing to go and talk to Joe Dollars, because you really had something to talk about in addition to a library, which is always a feel-good. I mean, it’s easy to sell products that are feel-good. I mentioned I was with Wells, and we sold IRAs and stuff. They’re feel-good. The branch people loved selling those products because they’re good for you, which is true. And a library is good for you. So we had the library, but in addition to the library, we had made it the Lafayette Library and Learning Center with the Consortium addition. The other thing is we were able to get wonderful nationwide advertising, not advertising, but newspaper support, where papers across the country picked up the story. And what we found is we were getting contacts from libraries across the United States. And there were, and again, I can’t remember the names, people, National Library Association, et cetera, were very interested in this concept. And all of a sudden, Boston and all these other cities said, hey, we have better additional organizations. And they started putting together these community organizations of their own, as we had done. The other advantage we had is because we had this in the early 90s or the late 80s, the state had had a bond proposal out there, a Library Bond. And the state was awarding grants to libraries to help them build a new library. And it was very, very competitive. Some libraries did very well and got some of these early, very substantial dollar support. Alameda got like 14 million and I never did figure out why. But by the time we applied, I think we were in like the last year of the library grant. Well, the advantage of our grant request was that we were, we had the consortium concept. In addition, what I haven’t mentioned is the city government has been extremely supportive. Steve Falk came to a lot, most of our board meetings, or Ann Meredith who works with Steve. Don Tatzin’s been very involved since the beginning. So that by virtue of everybody being involved, the more you have involved, the more you get involved. Anyhow, so we applied for the state grant and we won 11 point 12 million dollars. Or is it 12.11? See, I’ve forgotten all my numbers. Anyhow, somebody will know. So we did win a state grant. And we’ve been getting money regularly ever since. And in addition, you probably are aware that the City had a Redevelopment Bond, which they hadn’t been, you have to sign up.
BH: Okay.
LL: So there were other advantages we had moving forward. Going back to your question, why people were supportive, it became more and more exciting. And we were doing a lot of publicity articles and so on. It became kind of the thing that everybody wanted to be part of. A lot of people were late to the party, but boy, as long as you came in, it was fine.
BH: That’s great. That’s great. Now, I just want some of your personal opinions to this point. Obviously, you’re beginning to be involved with the library. Why is this new library important to you? Why?
LL: I think the library is the greatest gift, the best gift I can imagine leaving as a monument to what have you done with your life. I mean, it’s great to say I had a great job. I was, my kids know I was very successful, et cetera, all of that. But this, the library, is far more important. And I have found that my kids are talking to their kids about what I’m doing. And so everybody knows the library has been, it’s just, it’s like doing something where you’re doing something for so many people. And it’s something that will last for the next, I don’t know, 40 years or something.
BH: That’s great. And what have you enjoyed the most in participating?
LL: I think two things. One is I have really enjoyed working with the people I’ve worked with. When I was very young and first married and all that, people would try to get me into organizations. All the other ladies on the board, it was always ladies, were 90 years old and they never could finish anything. And, you know, oh, yeah, we’ll get that by the first. Oh, well, I was too busy and all of that drove me crazy. What I found, have found in working, and this is the reason I stayed involved, is everybody you’ve worked with, I’ve worked with in town, almost everybody, comes with a business or corporate or professional background. And as a result, when they say we’re going to do A, B, and C by this date, it’s done. And everybody fulfills their commitment. So that it’s a well-greased organization. And it just makes an enormous difference. And I think this is where we’re able to hold on to a lot of people. I have loved working because they make it pleasure to work with. And if you know everybody else is doing their piece, you’re darn well going to do yours and turn up on time.
BH: Yes, that’s great. Any fun memories, any particular fun memories or incidents or stories that come to mind?
LL: I have to think. I really… Yeah, it’s hard.
BH: It’s hard.
LL: Yeah, I have to think.
BH: You have to kind of come to mind.
LL: Yeah.
BH: But you certainly have explained well the essence of the quality of participation.
LL: Yeah, it’s been outstanding.
BH: What transformation have you seen in Lafayette relative to the new life?
LL: I think the city government is, but I wasn’t as involved previously. I think they’re far more supportive. I think they’re far more aware of how things are… This is the population, and it’s typical of this type of a population. This is the population that’s very involved. And, you know, it’s getting their support. You know, we’ve been doing these street bond issues since whenever, and they can’t get it through. And it’s mostly, they need probably to do some grassroots and go up from there, I would think.
BH: Not unlike the library.
LL: Yes, yeah. But it’s a feel good. I mean, the thing is, my streets pay, so I don’t want to pay for you to have your street pay. Well, that’s not the approach. You know, if you read books, you don’t read books. The roads aren’t just for me, and the library’s not just for me. You need to make it a broader, more general appeal.
BH: I think it’s just a quick question. Do you think that the City has become more familiar to the citizens of Lafayette, to this library?
LL: I find that hard to answer.
BH: Mm-hmm.
LL: I don’t know how other…
BH: So many people have said, you know, the city government, you know, they are.
LL: Well, most people, I’m not sure that people realize how involved the city government and how supportive they have been. And we’re seeing more and more of it. Don certainly has pushed that. But it’s hard to know what other people see. I have some neighbors who, you know, are, you know, vaguely involved. And there are just a lot of people like that. I think the City might… We’re going to be hanging banners for the opening, you know, down Mount Diablo Boulevard. And hopefully people will see that as the city being more involved.
BH: Yeah, that’s good. I mean, was anything more particularly exciting to you about the new Library than anything else? Any particular exciting moments in their lives?
LL: You know, it’s over such a long period. I… I can’t… It’s years. Yeah, it’s years. You know, you needed to have asked me at different times. Yeah, yeah.
BH: How about, what was exciting last week?
LL: Well, you know, just to go back for a minute, you know, there had been two… County State Library bond issues. And that actually motivated us in a lot of ways. Where people… That’s how… I think Gwen and I were working for Anne Cain on some of those early issues. That… Let me… With the bond issues.
BH: Yeah.
LL: Gwen and I were working on that with Anne Cain. Oh, that’s another thing. Anne Cain, who is the County Librarian and lives in Lafayette, has been very supportive. I think we’ve just been very fortunate. In addition, we’ve had some outstanding librarians. Laura O’Donohue now works for Anne. But the librarian we have now, Susan Weaver, walks on water. And if they… If Anne ever takes her away from us, that’s it. We will rise up. Or certainly we will. Yes.
BH: Now just… For the library of the future, what outcome do you hope for most from this new library?
LL: I think that it’s going to be a problem managing it going forward. You know, we’ve created the Lafayette Library and Learning Center Foundation. It’s how they approach it. It’s some outstanding people on that board. But it’s how they approach it. And it needs to be… They need to be sure that they make it a situation where we have events and we do invite people, children, adults, whatever it is, from East County. And we need to be very careful that they handle that very carefully going forward. Right now we’re working on a relationship and developing or putting together the relationship between the Friends and the Library Foundation. And what we’re talking about is calling everybody a friend, which makes sense. But these relationships are going to take a while to develop and to work through.
BH: So I’m hearing your question again. One of the outcomes of this new library is to connect Lafayette with other communities…
LL: Yes. Yes. And to follow through in our commitment that what we have to offer is going to be widely available.
BH: Good. And how do you think it will affect our own sense of community?
LL: I’m not sure I can answer that. I think perhaps in the sense that we need to be supportive. If we’re inviting schools from East County, we need to make sure our kids are interactive with them and so that it isn’t us, you. And I think that’s going to take a lot of effort.
BH: Yes.
LL: Okay.
BH: But it’s worth the long road.
LL: Yes.
BH: Okay.
LL: All right. Thank you very much.
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