Steve Falk, Lafayette’s City Manager from 1991 to 2018, was interviewed by Brenda Heppler on January 15th, 2009. He describes Lafayette as a community which has, for decades, attracted people who were committed to good schools and to education in general. Soon after arriving, Steve became part of a citizens’ group that recognized that the […]

Francis Ebert was interviewed by Nancy Sherman on February 21, 2008. Dr. Ebert grew in Marysville and Yuba City and lived and worked in several other parts of Northern California before he succeeded the long-tenured Bill Ellis as Lafayette Superintendent of Schools in 1962. Among all the communities he and his wife lived in Lafayette […]

Anne Cain, Head Librarian for Contra Costa County, was interviewed on July 16, 2009, by George McLain. An active participant in the process to create the new library, Anne was specifically responsible for making sure the building was built to operate efficiently. Anne’s 37-years of experience as a librarian gave her a broad perspective for […]

Lucille “Lue” Jones moved to Lafayette at age 6 in 1927. Her father came here to work on building the Lafayette Reservoir. In this interview she shares memories of growing up in Lafayette at that time and of Carrie Van Meter, the town librarian, who would always tell you what book you were going to […]

From the time he arrived in Lafayette in 1990, Mike Gilson became an active supporter of local non-profit organizations: the Town Hall Theater, the War Veterans Memorial Hall, and, starting in 1994, the committee formed by a group of citizens to develop what would become the Lafayette Library and Learning Center. Like several other members […]

Jon Frank was Superintendent of the Lafayette School District for a 10-year period ending in 2003. He was interviewed by Nancie Sherman on October 31st, 2008. Jon was part of the original ad-hoc committee that began meeting in the mid 1990’s to lay the groundwork for a new library–“one which would make it possible to […]

Karen and Tom were interviewed by Nancie Sherman on March 16, 2009. From the time they moved to Lafayette in 1987 both of them had been actively involved in the local schools. Feeling that the 1952 library was no longer meeting the city’s needs, they soon joined and helped to lead the effort to plan, […]

Gayle Uilkema was interviewed by Mary McCosker on July 15, 2009. At the time she had served on the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors for 13 years, following 18 years of service on the Lafayette City Council. Supervisor Uilkema describes the library project as being the result of a whole lot of very committed, […]

Judy Carney was interviewed on June 30th, 2009. A member of the Vision Task Force that started meeting in 1996 to plan the new Lafayette Library and Learning Center, she was named Lafayette Citizen of the Year in 2009, the year the library opened. Prior to this she served two terms on the Lafayette School […]

Angela was interviewed by Mary McCosker on October 11th, 2007. She grew up in Rutherford and graduated from UC Berkeley. When she came to Lafayette in 1956 the library consisted of two rooms in a small house. The room that was dedicated to books for children could hold no more than 100 titles. A newer […]