Foundation Raising Money for 21st Century Library

Some people might call libraries a dying breed in this digital age, but those people probably aren't living in San Rafael.

On the heels of last month's successful passage of a new tax to help the city's struggling public library system, a philanthropic effort behind a library of the future hopes to turn that momentum into more bodies, brainstorming and bucks.

"We've seen the community step up to support the library," said Beth Quirarte, executive director of the San Rafael Public Library Foundation. "We are calling on them to think long-term."

The foundation was established in 2004 with a solitary mission in mind - to build a new public library facility with the technology and breadth to serve the community for generations to come.

Quirarte said voters' approval of Measure C, adding a $49 parcel tax to their property tax bills, showed them the time was right to make a big push to replace the city's 100-year-old Carnegie building at Fifth Avenue and E Street.

"We are heavily recruiting right now from people who worked on Measure C to work with us," said Quirarte, a veteran fundraiser who previously worked in fund development for Eden Housing of Hayward. "We've learned lessons on how to talk about the library."

She said she hoped to triple the foundation's dozen members in the next six months.

Ray Frost, president of the foundation board of directors, said he was "pleasantly surprised" with the positive results from last month's election.

Both Frost and Quirarte said while tax funding and support from the decades-old Friends of the San Rafael Public Library organization were crucial to ongoing services and programs hit hard in the stagnant economy, a separate effort was needed for the large-scale campaign for a whole new library.

Karen Nielsen, board secretary for the Friends of the Library and co-manager of the group's bookstore that opened last year, said its fundraising activities brought in $40,000 to $50,000 annually for new book and equipment purchases, childrens entertainment and art lectures.

"A new library would require millions, not thousands," she said. "The foundation seemed like it needed a different focus and expertise to be able to raise the money that would be needed."

Quirarte said the foundation had raised a little more than $100,000 to date. A target figure was still being determined, she said.

In fact, foundation officials admitted more help was needed to bring structure to lofty ideas.

Goals for the new space include additional size to adequately support materials, additional resources for children and teenagers, more digital materials, resources for local businesses and an enviroment that gets away from the out-dated "shhhh!" library model. 

"Our vision is to incorporate the old and new in one unified whole," Frost said.

The hope was to work with the city to be able to build on the existing library site, he said.

Quirarte made reference to the sleek new Walnut Creek Public Library, which opened earlier this month. That project cost $40 million and took the city 12 years to come to fruition.

San Rafael's current library building, considered state-of-the-art when opened in 1908 with help from a $25,000 gift from Andrew Carnegie, has 128,000 volumes stuffed into a space designed to hold 45,000, Quirarte said. A 2006 study of state library statistics found the standard library size per capita to be 45,000 square feet for a city of San Rafael's size. The current library is a little over 15,000 square feet.

Last year, an average of 800 to 900 people visited the city's library per day. That number has increased to 1,000 per day so far this year, according to the foundation.

"I think the foundation realizes that this building is just inadequate to meet the needs of the public," said Hollie Stanaland, supervising librarian in children services. 

She said staff has been amazed by efforts of the foundation, friends of the library and recent parcel tax campaign during some lean years. A staff of 20 full-time employees in recent years has been reduced by five including a library manager and two librarians, Stanaland said.

"The whole staff is so buoyed by the support of the community," she said. 

Foundation officials want to build on that community support.

"Five years from now we hope to be talking with you at a groundbreaking for a new library," Quirarte said.

To learn more about the foundation or inquire about volunteering opportunities, visit www.srplfoundation.org.

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