By now, everyone probably knows about Santa Maria’s brand-new, state-of-the-art library. But what people probably don’t know about is the brand-new library shop.
Located just outside of the main library and next to the library cafe;, The Library Shop is an enhanced version of the old Friends of the Santa Maria Library bookshop.
What used to be a collection of folding tables and used bookshelves piled with paperbacks is now a perfectly pruned forest of books, magazines, movies, and art.
“The main goal of the shop is to sell donated materials and introduce merchandise from local merchants,” said Library Shop manager Angie Duarte. “We have handmade dolls and art featuring the local environment.”
Duarte is a new addition herself. Volunteer Diane Balay said that while planning for the new shop, the Friends of the Library decided it wanted a paid professional to manage the shop’s progress. But members still volunteer to run the shop, working in shifts to sell books and stock shelves.
Volunteers Ernie and Hilda Glenesk said that, to them, the shifts don’t even seem like work.
“We’re just so proud of this facility and to be a part of it,” Hilda said.
The Glenesks also volunteer at local state parks and with Meals on Wheels, a nonprofit organization that brings meals to the hungry.
The outpouring of people willing to volunteer and get involved is no big surprise to Balay, who joined Friends of the Library in 2005.
“[Everyone involved in the shop] is doing it because they believe in the value of reading and everything you would find in a library,” Balay said. “Nowadays, you can find pretty much anything in the library.”
All of the money raised through sales at the shop (paperback books cost $1, hardbound books usually cost $2) goes toward funding the Santa Maria Public Library and its programs.
Other aspects of the library come from donations from local residents, like the materials for sale and display art.
Balay said the Friends of the Library is “particularly proud” of The Library Shop’s logo: a multicolored panorama of a Central Coast oak tree nestled into the amber-hued hills. Designed free-of-charge by local artist Tammy Bennett, the logo was turned into a tapestry that now hangs prominently behind the shop cash register.
Like the gift given by Bennett, Balay said, Friends of the Library wants to give the gift of literacy and language to the people of Santa Maria, one book sale at a time.
Staff Writer Amy Asman compiled this week’s Community Corner. Send items for consideration to aasman@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Sep 11-18, 2008.