Letter: Friends improving Pollock Pines library

To the community,

It gives me great pleasure and pride to tell readers about the positive changes we made to the Pollock Pines Library this year.

Our Pollock Pines Friends chapter has been busy putting donations to work. Our objectives for 2012 were to improve the facility (making the lovely little library as appealing and functional as we could), improve programming, and materials selection, and to increase the

effectiveness of library staff. This year, we upgraded some of the interior furnishings, purchased a laptop for staff use, improved the landscaping, replaced the carpeting (which was nearly 30 years old and getting threadbare), and expanded the kids’ area. We also purchased a storage shed for use in storing future book sale books.

The Friends hosted the ever-popular Wild Things Animal Program, which was enthusiastically attended by dozens of children and adults. The Friends also sponsored the Back to School Party with school supplies, ice cream, and cake. In addition, we hosted the Democracy Program with speakers on the Holocaust and Japanese internment, which packed the house.

All of these programs and improvements have been made possible by donations from Friends of the Library and other residents, grants from the Dogwood Garden Club and the Pollock Pines-Camino Rotary, and many enthusiastic hours of volunteer effort. We could not have done this without the support of the community.

In 2013, we plan to make additional minor facility improvements, fund new reading material purchases, and sponsor several children’s programs.

We have a cozy and wonderful library in Pollock Pines, with access to the county’s collection of over 400,000 books, magazines, videos and audiobooks. Our library has computers for Internet access, WiFi, and a very helpful staff. Through funding from First 5, the Pollock Pines

Library has become a leader in early literacy programs for young children. We’re duly proud of and grateful for our library and its staff of two dedicated librarians.

Much thanks to our Pollock Pines community for its support of the Pollock Pines Library.

Becky McIntyre, Pollock Pines