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 […]

In this interview for the Lafayette Library and Learning Center project, Bob Fisher describes in detail the pivotal role he played from 2005-on in the planning, funding, and building of the city’s new library, which quickly became its center of activity. He also played the central role in conceiving and creating the unique Glenn Seaborg […]

Alice Barnham was interviewed by Brenda Hepler on May 30th, 2007. Alice came to Lafayette in 1974 after living for a brief period in Berkeley. She grew up in South Orange, NJ and was a very active library patron from an early age. Alice became active in Lafayette community affairs first through volunteering with the […]

Ruth Dyer was interviewed by Mary McCosker. She grew up in Porterville, where her family grew almonds, and trained to be a teacher at UC Berkeley. She taught in Salinas and Antioch before becoming a history teacher at Acalanes High School in 1951. She taught at Acalanes for 30 years. Ruth was familiar with the […]

The Coons were interviewed by Brenda Heppler on February 19th, 2008. They each grew up in Iowa, then moved to Lafayette in 1968 when Dean took a job with Clorox in Oakland. Both became very active in community affairs–he was a member of the Lafayette Community Foundation and she worked professionally in the field of […]

Ann grew up in San Rafael. She attended Cornell and worked on Wall Street for a couple of years before she and her husband returned to the west coast and settled in Lafayette. Ann became involved as a volunteer in the schools, and then, through the Lafayette Community Foundation, became part of a small group […]

Larry was interviewed on July 18th, 2008. He had begun a career in the architectural field when, in 1991, he chose instead to become involved in running the family business. He has stayed there ever since, and has also served on the City’s Design Review Commission and with the Chamber of Commerce, Historical Society, and […]