REDWOOD NEWSMAKERS: The Humboldt Library Foundation supports the Humboldt County Library main branch here in Eureka, plus ten community branches and a bookmobile that serves 14 outlying rural areas. Their annual holiday gala is coming up on Tuesday, December 5th. And with me today are foundation board members Ciara Emery and Peter Lavallee. Hey, thanks for inviting us to the library.
CIARA EMERY: Thanks for having us.
REDWOOD NEWS: Thank you. Peter, can you tell us what is the role of the foundation?
PETER LEVALLEE Sure. The Library Foundation was founded in 1996, essentially to raise funds to support the system that you just talked about, the branches, the main library. And in that time, since we were founded, we’ve raised over one point… raised and given the library over $1.6 million. So we have a twofold goal. One is to continue to raise money to support the collection of the e-book. This year we’re adding graphic novels, different things like that, that we’ve also got a goal of raising an endowment fund. We’re up to about $640,000, and that goal is to have a fund that in perpetuity will support the system.
REDWOOD NEWS: Well, you just this last week bequeathed the library with over $100,000. Correct?. Do you want to talk about that?
CIARA EMERY: Absolutely. Yeah. So we’re so excited to give the library funding for, as Peter said, a new graphic novel section that’s really going to organize the existing graphic novels that the library has and then expand them into a dedicated section. So in addition to the graphic novels, we also always refresh the existing materials, make sure that the library has the capacity to buy the new and popular novels. The library has a very cool list of services genealogy, ancestry programs, and also we’ve historically supported their mango languages, which is a language learning tool. So folks are getting their library cards and they know all the good benefits that we help support.
REDWOOD NEWS: Well, your foundation has a holiday annual holiday gala coming up. Can you tell us about that?
CIARA EMERY: Absolutely. So the gala is the fundraiser, our main main source of of raising funds for the grants that we provide to the library every year. Happening December 5th. It’s always a wonderful time. We really like to think of it as the kickoff of the holiday season. Come support the library. This year we are particularly focusing on children’s literature and children’s books. So we’re here in the children’s sections of the library and we’re hoping that the gala this year will really support that.
REDWOOD NEWS: Ciara Emery and Peter LaValleee from the Humboldt Library Foundation, thanks for inviting us to the library. Thanks so much.
BOTH: Thank you.
