Who's Who: Charlotte Britton, Artist and Friend of the Library

Name: Charlotte Britton

Occupation: Publicity Chair of the

There is . Can you tell me a little bit about it? Well, it's our annual meeting, and this year the public is invited. John McMurtrie, who also lives in El Cerrito and is the editor of the book section of the San Francisco Chronicle, will be speaking. The name of the talk is, “Is the Book Dead?” I assume he will be speaking about the fate of books and reading.

What do you think about the future of books? Is the book dead? We're sitting here, then, in the midst of a cemetery if the book is dead. In the library we're surrounded by books, and the Friends of the Library has been going on for a long time. We sort donated books and sell some of them upstairs for very little money, and sell some of them for more money when we have our book sale. The next one is in the latter part of September.

How have you seen the library affected by budget cuts over the past few years? I see that we don't have the new library that we had hoped for and started working for a number of years ago, and that there probably is no chance of it in the near future because of the current economy. There was talk of putting money away for a building fund for a new library, but that's just a dream at this point. We're trying to keep basic things going.

Has this meant that the Friends of the Library are shouldering more of that burden? Oh yes. I was told just the other day that libraries in the county are losing a certain percentage of the funding, and the Friends of the Library were asked if we could make up some of that so that the library can buy materials and supplies. Certain periodicals are also very expensive, and soon we'll have to share subscriptions with the .

How long have you been involved with the Friends of the El Cerrito Library? Probably since about 2005. A friend asked if I wanted to get involved, and at the time I was busy painting and teaching and being in galleries and keeping all of that going. I spent my career as a painter and I led travel workshops. I got to travel to Europe a bunch of times to do that. I always keep a diary, so this is one from a trip to Portugal and Spain. (She is holding her own illustrated diary.)

How is this different from taking photographs for you? There's something about making lines by hand. I don't know if this really looks like that, but it's what I did when I was right there, and it almost brings it back in a way that if I just looked at it and took a picture, may not have happened. The physical drawing of lines sticks in your memory.

What was it like to have a career as an artist and not having gone for a 9-to-5 job? A little bit guilty at times. I did for a while, but you have to remember that I grew up in the 1950s, and most of the kids that I knew expected to grow up, get married and have kids. You know, you didn't think beyond that, but my mother tried to find a talent in each of her children and encourage it. I was encouraged to paint. My grandmother bought me my first watercolors when I was 14, and that was after I had used up the end papers of all the books in the house.

What do you like to read? I like books with a sense of place.

Recent favorites? I like all the Donna Leon mysteries set in Venice. There are also three detective stories by Rebecca Pawel that are set in Spain just after the Civil War. I've always loved books. I can't stop. I'm looking behind you to see if there isn't something that I might like to read.