Summary:
Sally Bellenger was interviewed by Nancy Sherman on January 22, 2008, during the time that construction of the Lafayette Library and Learning Center was under way. She arrived in Lafayette in 1971, choosing the community for its good schools and its values. In this interview Sally describes how a group of dedicated and hard working volunteers, of which she was one, managed the process of planning and designing the much-needed new library. She describes how public forums first determined what sort of facility would best serve the community and how the Friends of the Library’s ever-growing book sales operations made significant annual donations over a 20-year period to a fund for the new library. These funds, combined with the library foundation’s outreach and fundraising efforts, played a major role in turning the shared dream of Lafayette’s residents into a reality.
Oral History:
Nancy Sherman: Thank you for agreeing to share with us some of your experiences in the community of Lafayette and in particular with the development and building of the new library. Thank you.
Sally Bellenger: Okay.
NS: Sally Bellenger, interviewed by Nancy Sherman, 1-22-08.
SB: My grammar school I went to had the most marvelous library. They had, the kindergarten was here and there was a round room and the library was a round room and it was comfortable and it was wonderful and had everything that a little kid would want.
NS: Where was that?
SB: That was in Scarsdale, New York at Fox Meadow Grammar School.
NS: How important was reading to you when growing up?
SB: As a little kid, not really. When I got to be about 8, 9, 10, I would read my father’s books because he hid them under the bed and I thought, well, this is something I should read.
NS: Were there none?
SB:No. What they were were Earl Stanley Gardner’s mysteries.I’ve loved them ever since. And they’re not written, not very difficult to read for a sixth grader.
NS: Did you have favorite childhood books?
SB: Well, those are the ones that brought me into the adult era. But when I was a kid, it was The Five Chinese Brothers and Mr. Popper’s Penguins. My two favorite. I still have them.
NS: Did your children read them?
SB: Not really. I hate saying that. But I would read it to them.
NS: Good.
SB: And hopefully that they would enjoy those books. Tried to read them before they went to school.
NS: Now, did you grow up in the New York area?
SB: Yes. We moved out to California when I was 16.
NS: And did you have an awareness of community and what might it have been while you were growing up? Awareness of community?
SB: Well, the one thing that I remember that everyone was involved with, and we’re going way back, was the Mother’s March of Dimes.
NS: Mm-hmm.
SB: And because my mother was involved with that. And that was basically that. And after school sports, doing things like that. And there was only one high school, so that was nice. And, of course, my older brother and sister preceded me. And, of course, they were, oh, we know you. You know, that kind of thing, which gives you a good sense of community. And the schools were small. They weren’t huge. So, everybody knows everybody, which is excellent.
NS: And can you elaborate a little bit on your education?
SB: Okay. I went to Scarsdale High School until I was, I finished as a sophomore. Went to Convent of the Sacred Heart in Menlo Park, but now it’s called Sacred Heart Prep in Atherton. The school didn’t move, but they just changed their address. And then I went to Berkeley, University of California at Berkeley.
NS: What about work experiences?
SB: Okay. They weren’t really fantastic. I finished off working for Greyhound, doing, paying their bills. Nothing too exciting. I wish it was, but it wasn’t.
NS: Now, as an adult, what were your early community experiences?
SB: Basically, working for, going up to school and working with the kids in my children’s classroom. That would be the first.
NS: What attracted you to Lafayette? And how long have you lived here now?
SB: Okay. We moved here in 1971. The youngest, my child, Greg, was six months old. And we moved here because the schools did well, or the students did well. Let’s put it in those terms. And that’s important. And I’m a firm believer in public education.
NS: Okay. Now, I have some community goals here, and we want to ask if you see Lafayette meeting those goals, a place of mutual support, shared values, and acceptance of differences.
SB: I’d like to think that we accept everyone’s differences. And the milieu that I’m in, I see that as a truth. I think, basically, most people move here, and what they’re most interested in is the schools. And I think we all help the schools to be better by helping up at school. And, of course, the Arts and Science Foundation does a marvelous job. And I think we all add to that.
NS: And what are your earliest memories of Lafayette’s library?
SB: There weren’t as many books as I would have liked. I like libraries. I just like to go browse and see new things, and definitely for research on projects that I have, or to look into things.
NS: So, when the next question asks, how often do you personally use the Lafayette library, and for what, especially, you would answer?
SB: How often?
NS: Mm-hmm.
SB: That’s a hard question. When I want to look something up, a lot of, I’m now getting more advanced at using the computer. I’m not really good at it,
but I try. But when I want to look and see things like cookbooks, mysteries, and what’s available and stuff, and I want something, I’ll go in. However, I buy most of my books from the Friends of the Lafayette Library Book Room, because I’m there all the time.
NS: Uh-huh.
SB: And the prices are fantastic.
NS: Uh-huh. How do you feel a library serves a community?
SB: Oh, I think a library is totally important. It’s basically because it’s the access to information, and we wouldn’t be anywhere without it. And information either, the new library’s going to have, oh, an awful lot of computers. I don’t know. Now we only have about four, but add a zero to it, I think about, I probably am wrong. I don’t know. But a lot of computers, so for those that don’t have one, and for those that want it right then and there, while you’re there, it’s, it’s available to everybody. And, of course, all that information that one needs to have, newspapers, magazines, it’s there.
NS: Okay. Have you been involved in the library over the years? And if so in what way?
SB: Uh, let’s see, I’ve worked for the Friends of the Lafayette Library Book Room for, could be 20 years. I’ve been on the board for almost as long of the Friends board. I’m also on the communications committee of the foundation that deals with getting money.
NS: Oh.
SB: Yeah. So that’s planning of, and planning events. They’ve got some awfully smart women there. It’s wonderful.
NS: Can you be more specific about some of your experiences in that.
SB: Well, experiences working on the communications committee, I’m absolutely bowled over with the intelligence and the abilities of the women that are on there. Working with the Friends, I just like all the people I work with. And getting my hands on and actually making money at the Book Room is fun. Otherwise, it’s absolutely fun. And need people. And if it weren’t fun, we wouldn’t be able to keep our volunteers. And they’ve been there longer than I. So if it weren’t fun, it would be difficult at best. But we just keep the same volunteers forever.
NS: You make it fun for each other.
SB: Absolutely. Yeah.
NS: And is there a lot of turnover? Do a lot of people come in and purchase?
SB: A lot of, yeah. We’ve made $50,000 a year for the library. And every year approximately $20,000 goes to the librarian for whatever she needs. And the other part goes into a building fund. And our building fund has given, including money that comes in for the friends from people who belong. We gave $750,000 to the city and $250,000 to the opening book collection.
NS: Wow. That’s very fabulous. Fabulous.
SB: It really is. I know. It’s fabulous. I had no idea. Yeah. Most people don’t. It’s no, we, we just work away. 50 cents here, a dollar there.
NS: And how of
SB: We have book sales the first and third Saturdays of the month from 9 till 12. And around Christmas time, we have three days in a row that coincide with the boutique that’s there. And that’s it.
NS: And then people can go in and buy at any time?
SB: If the doors open, yes. Or if we’re there. Someone’s usually there every morning, anyway.
NS: And how often do you?
SB: Well, while Joan Merryman was ill and recuperating, that was about September through December to the beginning of January, I was there every day.
NS: Oh my goodness.
SB: I was doing what she did. But she’s back. And so, basically I’m in charge of the Friday sales. And, no, I work Friday with my group that works sorting, doing all that good stuff. And in charge of the first of the month’s sale.
NS: Pretty impressive. Oh. That’s a lot of all it’s now.
SB: It adds up.
NS: Are there other community events or projects or organizations that you’ve been involved with that you could talk a little bit about?
SB: Okay. Now one is the tile artwork that’s on Safeway.
NS: Uh-huh.
SB: And the people involved in that was myself Carolyn Kerr, Lou Jones, and Erling Horn.
NS: Mm-hmm.
SB: And Tom White.
NS: Mm-hmm.
SB: So, all of us pulled that together.
NS: How long did that go on?
SB: Uh, oh, several months.
NS: Yeah.
SB: Three or four or five months. Basically, we had to have something on the wall there that Safeway was willing to give to the city. And something that couldn’t be destroyed. So, it really, uh, we had to be careful about what kind of project it was going to be. So, tiles are pretty indestructible.
NS: And people were cooperative with the design and all of that.
SB: Yes. Yes. We, they found a, a wonderful woman I guess up in the North Bay, who was trying to get known as a tile artist.
NS: Oh.
SB: So, we got a good deal. Because, basically, it could have been, we wouldn’t have been able to afford it.
NS: Uh-huh.
SB: So, it was very good. And also, there’s the, yeah, we were. And the, uh, there’s, oh, I don’t know what you’d call it. A tower outside of the city offices that went, they had a thing in all of Contra Costa County where every city did an art tower. And, uh, basically, the same people that worked on the, uh, wall at Safeway worked on that one. But we have all different artists from Lafayette, uh, represented. So, it’s all sorts of pictures dealing with Lafayette.
NS: But there were all artists who did it?
SB: Yes.
NS: Okay.
SB: Mm-hmm.
NS: Now, we’re moving into library history. Obviously, you were not here in 1940. But 1962? Were you here already?
SB: No. ‘71. No. Nine years later.
NS: Um, let’s go on, then, to the new library.
SB: Oh, okay.
NS: In the study of 1996, do you recall who were involved? Were you involved?
SB: No.
NS: No. So, you don’t know the results of this study, or do you?
SB: Uh, I’ve forgotten.
NS: Yeah.
SB: However, uh, from the board, from our board for the Friends, it was Mary Ann Hoisington and Ruth Bailey that were on that. It was a community-wide group. Okay. And, you know, they sent out questionnaires and tried to figure out what they were doing.
NS: Yeah, it’s asking here what were the results of this study, and what did responders want? So, I assume that’s asking what did the community, what were their wishes?
SB: Um.
NS: At that point, at ‘96.
SB: At that point computers, lots of books, easily, easily accessible to the schools, which was the reason for having it where it is. And, actually, the fact that it was such a hard piece of property makes, makes it a much more interesting building. So, that’s, that’s a good point.
NS: So, people wanted to be specifically close to the school.
SB: As close as they could get it, because, uh, they felt that the kids would be walking to the library.
NS: And they had to be, because it always had been, too.
SB: That’s right.
NS: So, there was that precedent. That’s interesting.
SB: Yeah. As opposed to going somewhere else with a piece of property that would be more easily built upon, they chose this one.
NS: I think it’s going to be wonderful.
SB: I think, I like the idea of it being multi-layered. It’s going to be nice. Yeah.
NS: Do you know who was on the vision task force? Do you know that?
SB: No.
NS: And, can we say how vision evolved into a real plan for those involved? It’s a hard question.
SB: It is. I think there were certain basics that they needed. And, one was the proximity to the schools, how large it was going to be. And, once they figured out that we were going to have a consortium of 12 entities, that also is a big decision on how big the library had to be.
NS: Yeah, absolutely.
SB: It wasn’t just going to be bigger and just books and maybe computers. They went very creatively.
NS: So, in a way that answers this next question, what do you think created the change from the limited number of people named as contributors to the larger group that came for it? The consortium, do you think, was part of that?
SB: Very definitely.
NS: Yeah.
SB: And, when you say contributors, do you mean people who have donated money so far?
NS: I think so. But, perhaps, contributors in other ways as well.
SB: Yeah.
NS: Can we be able to?
SB: Well, the whole idea of the consortium was Roger Falcone.
NS: Okay.
SB: And, that was just a stroke of genius. And, it’s because of that that we got the money from the state. If it weren’t for that, we wouldn’t have gotten any money because we already have a library.
NS: That’s right.
SB: And, the contributors, basically, the foundation went out asking people and that worked. They got an awful lot of money that way. Wealthier people in this town and stuff. The ask for the community at large really hasn’t happened yet. They’re starting with some, what do you call those things? Not projects, but party-like things and, and they, yeah, they’re going to be doing that.
NS: The book that they were talking about yesterday.
SB: Oh, yes. It’s, it’s gorgeous, isn’t it? I haven’t seen it. We haven’t seen it. Oh. It is. It’s wonderful. Yeah.
NS: So, when it asks, how did the idea of the Learning Center Consortium come about, is Roger Falcone speaking about, what do you think his impetus was?
SB: Probably great imagination.
NS: Yeah.
SB: And, and, and what, living in this area, in San Francisco Bay Area. Absolutely. And, he, I think he works for, UC, is it Lawrence Radiation Lab? I don’t know. But, but he has something, maybe he’s a physicist at UC, I’m not sure. And, he knows of all these things that you can get, because they have all these wonderful projects that they do. And, then once they do it once, it goes into the basement. And, why not use it three times?
NS: Exactly. Yeah.
SB: And, and it’s not just UC Berkeley. It’s, we’ve got, uh, Lawrence, not, the, the, Lab, I don’t think so. Uh, you know, the animal.
NS: Alexander Lindsay.
SB: At Lindsay Museum, we’ve got, we’ve got all sorts of wonderful things around here.
NS: Yeah, yeah, yeah, it’s, it is fabulous. And, so, why is the new library important to you?
SB: Yes.
NS: Can you say why?
SB: Why? Because I think libraries are the one thing that keeps everybody free. It’s kind of esoteric kind of thing. But, I really think that without them, we’d just listen to somebody and say, oh, that’s true? Poobah. I mean, you get all these.
NS: It’s a great answer.
SB: Oh.
NS: Wonderful. That’s a great answer.
SB: Yeah, because we need to, you know, it’s like, are we going to have books that you can’t read? That’s silly. You know, like, if you’re not going to read Karl Marx, how do you know about, communism? You have to get it from, from whence it came. You can’t just say, oh, okay, it’s good, it’s bad. You’ve got to look at it. And, that’s true with everything.
NS: Why did you want to participate in the development?
SB: That’s kind of interesting. I started little, working with the Friends at the book room. And you just kind of get swept up into things. And then they say, oh, Sally, why don’t you come here? We’ve got something for you to do. And it just escalates.
NS: Okay, so that answers how did you first get involved.
SB: Yeah. And then what role or roles have you played? Well, okay, working at the book room, I’m on the board of the Friends of the Lafayette Library, and I’m on the Communications Committee for the Foundation.
NS: Wow.
SB: And so that’s, that’s a lot. And, and it’s all dealing with the same thing, which is the library, the new library, making money for the library, all those things.
NS: Big issue. Yeah.
SB: Yeah.
NS: Can you say what you’ve enjoyed the most in participating?
SB: Yes. It’s, it’s the people that, you know, I participate with, because they’re wonderful. And I think just about anything that people do, if you don’t like the people you’re working with, you’re not going to do it.
NS: Mm-hmm.
SB: And they’re, they’re wonderful.
NS: What about obstacles? Have there been any, and how were they overcome?
SB: Obstacles. I don’t know of any, because the people working on this are so bright that they come up with answers to the problems. Some of the problems would be where to put the library to begin with, and they came out with, with this idea. And because of the landscaping of the library itself, you get a much better designed library, I think.
NS: Mm-hmm. More interesting, for sure.
SB: Yeah.
NS: Have you observed any particular personalities, any that stood out making a real impact on this new library, and why?
SB: Uh, oh, well, of course, there’s the one that I have the most. Oh, God, what’s the word with communications would be, Linda Peterson. She’s the President of the Friends. Mm-hmm. She’s also the head lady for the communications committee. Mm-hmm. And she’s, she’s marvelous. She’s excellent at what she does. And, of course, uh, Joan Merryman started the bookroom way back in the late 60’s. So she’s still doing that. And that’s a big money raiser with 50-cent books. And it adds, it adds up.
NS: This is a little bit of a repeat, but it’s asking, what are your best memories of your involvement with the new library? Can you elaborate, and what was the most fun, the most rewarding?
SB: The most rewarding, and the most fun is working with the people that I work with at the bookroom.
NS: Yeah.
SB: They’re wonderful. Yeah. And we’ve been working together for years and years, and, they’re funny. And I just really like them all. They’re very good.
NS: What about values? It’s asking, what values did this contribution touch that you hold dear and why?
SB: Well, if, if one has the opportunity to help something that you really like, and I’m big on libraries for many, many reasons. And it started out small, and it just gives me a good feeling doing something that I think is important.
NS: Okay. Have you seen any transformation in Lafayette? Re: the new library?
SB: Um, not really. Not yet, maybe? No, not yet. I think the fact that the building’s going up and people can see something actually happening is more to the point even though the planning and everything was years before.
NS: I know I drive by and I get a little tinge of excitement, that something’s starting to take some shape there.
SB: Yeah. And I think people are, most of the people that I know know about the library from day one, basically, because I keep telling them about it. Yeah. But I think as a rule, I think people are excited about it. Um, and willing to donate money, because we still need money.
NS: Yeah. It’s ongoing.
SB: Yes, ongoing, yeah.
NS: Um, have you seen an increase in community involvement in the library?
SB: Uh, on some of these committees that, on this committee, especially the communications committee, I see younger and younger women, which is good, because now I’m one of the older ones, and I like the fact that we’ve got the younger families involved, because this is going to, there’s, the work that needs to be done is going to be ongoing, and once you get older, sometimes the ongoing doesn’t last as long.
NS: Yeah. Exactly.
SB: Yeah.
NS: Can you say what’s most exciting to you about this new project? Uh, did any ideas, words, activities particularly draw your attention?
SB: Well, I love the consortium idea. I just wish my children were younger.
NS: Yeah.
SB: I think we could take, take advantage of it, but, uh, the only ones that can take advantage of it now are my husband and myself, and, uh, there’s all sorts of things.
NS: Well, maybe there will be grandchildren.
SB: Right. Yeah, but they’d be far away.
NS: Ah, I know.
SB: But you know, with the Commonwealth Club and, and people like that, that are part of the consortium, there’s going to be a lot of things for adults.
NS: That’s right. The Commonwealth is part of the consortium.
SB: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Okay.
NS: Um, why do you think citizens of our city have responded as enthusiastically as they have to this new project?
SB: It goes back to the schools again. If you’re interested in education for your children and that’s the reason you moved here you’re going to be interested in a library, because that’s a place of great learning and place where you can get what you need.
NS: People used to say libraries are dying, you know, as computers came along, they were wrong, wrong, wrong, weren’t they?
SB: I absolutely think so. I think that that’s a bad premise to go with. But first of all, there’s nothing nicer than holding a book in your hands. I’m one of these very tactile people. And I love turning a page. And you go down an aisle and you see some book. Oh, the Mining of Contra Costa County. Wow. Well, hey, I don’t know anything about that, but let’s look at it. And you don’t really do that when you’re on a computer. You usually have a designated site that you want and there’s no browsing.
NS: It’s a different experience.
SB: It really is. And I, I just, of course I love the feel of paper. But, uh, I love paper. And I think books are just great. You can get big heavy books, put them on a pillow, uh, little books. It’s wonderful. And you can see all different things just by going down the aisle and looking. Find things you’ve never known.
NS: Looking ahead to the future, um, is there an outcome you hope most for the new library? And what do you look forward to using, doing, enjoying the most? So, first, what outcome? And then, what do you look forward to the most?
SB: Well, the outcome is that it will be highly used by everyone.
NS: Yeah.
SB: And, you know, mature, down to little kids. I think it’s the availability of everything, that there’s something for everybody. I would like to be able to see enough money to keep it running the way it should be. And that’s donations. We, even though we’ve got the building built, it’s the upkeep that’s going to be a biggie.
NS: Yeah.
SB: And that’s going to take contributions from everybody. And I hope everyone wants to be a part of that.
NS: You talked about your love of paper and the printed word and books.
SB: Mm-hmm.
NS: And do you think that perhaps having many computers there will draw people in who might then branch into the stacks themselves?
SB: I think any way you need, any way you get a person in the building is okay with me.
NS: Yeah. Yeah.
SB: And computers are definitely here to stay. Yeah. It’s not that they’re not. But you’ve got the best of both.
NS: Exactly.
SB: Mm-hmm.
NS: Um, how do you think the library might affect or better serve or enhance our sense of community?
SB: Well, in one way it’s going to be a place where you can meet people, where you’ll see people and say, oh, hi, I haven’t seen you in a while. There’s going to be, I think, a cafe and the availability to even have a cup of coffee in the, in the library, which.
NS: Wow.
SB: Yeah. I know.
NS: It’s a new world.
SB: I know. We’re going to have to be more careful.
NS: There really is going to be a cafe.
SB: Of course. You’re going to be able to have coffee and all that good stuff. Except me.
NS: I’m probably not.
SB: You and me both. I’m not noted for being very neat.
NS: Is there anyone else that you think we should contact for an interview?
SB: Um, I gave a couple names, and I think, uh, you have them. Lou Jones, for one, because she grew up here.
NS: Yeah.
SB: Uh, I think Gladys Laston’s been here for a long time. Uh, now, I don’t, Barbara Capra maybe, she grew up here.
NS: She did, yeah.
SB: Both she and her husband.
NS: Yeah. She went to school. She was in Joanne’s class. I heard.
SB: Oh, really?
NS: I don’t know if we have her name, so that’s, that’s good.
SB: That might be a good one.
NS: I don’t remember her husband’s name. Do you remember his name?
SB: Ray.
NS: Okay. And have I left anything else? Do you have any signs?
SB: Do you know someone else?
NS: Yeah. I’ve got it.
SB: So she lives in Orinda, but she works with the friends at the book room, and she was in Ray’s class at Acalanes, and that’s, uh, Pat Draa, D-R-A-A, and she lives in Orinda.
NS: In Orinda.
SB: Yeah, I don’t know if that works.
NS: But she knew Ray.
SB: She knew Ray, so they graduated 50 years ago from Acalanes.
NS: Okay.
SB: So she may have more information.
NS: Thank you. I need you to smile.
SB: Okay. If you want to wait a minute, I can give you her telephone number. Actually, that may have been this one.
NS: Oh. Well, before, before you do that, yeah, have I left anything else that you’d like to add, or do you have final thoughts?
SB: Uh, I don’t know.
NS: No final thoughts?
SB: Uh, I just think libraries are so wonderful and so needed, and a way of getting information outside of your television set.
NS: I agree.
SB: It keeps us, I mean, I’m going off on a thing. I, I think that freedom is having a library.
NS: I love that line.
SB: That’s the best thing you’ve got.
NS: I love that line.
SB: Oh, okay, because.
NS: Please go off on that.
SB: Okay.
NS: We’d like you to go off on that.
SB: You know, because. It’s great. Otherwise, you, if you just get all your information from one or two sources, you’re not getting the whole story. And as of, you know, listening to our presidential candidates, things, things aren’t as clear as I would like to hear them, unfortunately.
NS: Me neither.
SB: And they get off on a tangent and start. It’s kind of silly. But then again, that’s what they do.
NS: Thank you so much.
SB: You’re very welcome.
NS: Thank you.
Leave a Reply