2006-2007 Orange Book: Internet Directory
Friends of the Ramona Library

Friends of the Ramona Library

The Friends of the Ramona Library have been providing financial support and volunteers for the county branch library since 1985.

According to Pres. Elyse Kuhn, the Friends buy additional books and equipment, and do things for the library staff. For example, the Friends have provided equipment to make the tiny staff lounge and kitchen more pleasurable.

They helped raise funding for three previous library expansions to build a community room, literacy center and patio.

"We’re there to help anyway we can," said Mrs. Kuhn.

Currently they are raising money to supplement the book budget to make up for deep cuts that have been made to most county programs.

They make a special effort to supplement the children’s library programs, with much of the money going towards children’s books, and making things fun for the children.

A major effort by the Friends in recent years has been raising over $1.4 million for a new library to be built on 7.8 acres that was obtained by Supervisor Dianne Jacob. To get Prop. 14 matching funds, it was necessary that 35 percent of the funding for the building was raised locally.

That new library, when it's built on Main Street between 12th and 13th streets, will also be a center for seniors, providing a hand across the generations between younger people and their elders.

According to Mrs. Kuhn, this will be called an intergenerational community campus. "It should be a little garden paradise in the center of Ramona."

This year’s Friends’ officers are Marion Elyse Kuhn, president; Dick Wayman, vice president; Doris Stone, recording secretary; Quimby Davide, treasurer; and membership Barbara Pierce.

The group meets every other month, usually on the third Wednesday of the month, from 1-2 p.m. The public is welcome.

They also have an annual meeting toward the end of the year, a sit down catered affair, complete with a speaker, who is usually a writer of some sort.

The Friends also publish a quarterly newsletter, entitled Friendly Waves. The name refers to the Friends’ goal of "making waves," but in a benign way.

The Friends’ main fund-raisers come from selling used books. They have book sales on the third Saturday of the month (set up and taken down by the Ramona Kiwanis Club) and silent auctions for special books going on all the time. Occasionally the Friends acquire some special items, like paintings, which are then auctioned off. These sales bring in several hundred dollars a month, and are growing in popularity.

The organization has several hundred members, and under its new membership chairman, Barbara Pierce (who Mrs. Kuhn describes as "gung ho") the membership list has been expanding and acquiring many new life memberships.

Dues are $125 for life members, $5 for seniors, $15 for typical memberships, $25 for patrons and $35 for businesses.

The Friends is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization, so all donations are tax deductible.

Learn more about the Friends by visiting their web site at http://www.ramonalibrary.org/friends.shtml

Call (760) 738-2434