Winter 2023 Newsletter
President’s Message
Michele Vass
President

Hello Friends!

I hope this year has been treating you well. I am pleased to be serving as President of our organization for a 4th time. I’d like to give a hearty “Thank You” to Getta Dolinsek for her leadership these past 2 years as we emerged from the pandemic protocols and tried to chart a new way forward. Getta is to be commended for the Friends giving over $56,000 to the Placer County Library System last year! That money will be used to purchase additional books and materials for the Rocklin Library, purchase tablet computers to be used for youth STEM programs, purchase two early literacy stations for the Rocklin Library, and as in investment in the future growth and development of our library system.

You might have heard that we are in our 40th year of service to the Placer County Library System and the Rocklin community. We had a lovely celebration November 1st and are so thankful for the support of our County Supervisors and Rocklin City Council who provide us a truly grand building for our library staff to enhance our community by. We look forward to our successful partnership continuing for many years to come.

Our 5th annual "Love your Library" event will return on February 14th. Our members will give away 75 bags filled with chocolate, bookmarks, and a free book from our bookstore from 1-4pm! The community will also have an opportunity to show their love for the library by “buying” a book for the Rocklin collection! Every $25 donation will go to purchase a new book. We look forward to seeing you at the library to get your goody bag and free book.

Our Story Time at the Station, in partnership with the Rocklin Police Department, returned in October with continued community interest and participation. Friends’ member Rita Peterson coordinates these events on behalf of the Friends. Our Police Department employees and volunteers are to be commended for their enthusiastic reading and safety lessons. Our Valentine’s Day Story Time is February 13th @ 4:00pm at the Rocklin Police Station.

Our Baby's First Book initiative is approaching its 5 year anniversary and we are pleased to report that dozens of families visited the library last year and picked up a free board book for their baby. The brand new board books are available at the downstairs information desk for parents of children aged 0-12 months. Parents can simply ask the library staff for their child's free book and choose among several titles. These interactions have fostered conversations between patrons and staff about all the great programs offered at our library.

As you can see, we take our mission seriously: to promote and support the Rocklin Library and the Placer County library system, and to encourage community interest in libraries, reading, and lifelong learning. Not one of these things I have highlighted would be possible without your contributions and membership.

Thank you for your generosity and your pledge to support a vibrant community through a vibrant Rocklin library!
Thanks for the Donations!

Rocklin came through for the 3rd year in a row. This is what 374 books for kids in our community looks like! Thank you so much for your support of this event. We appreciate each and every donation of books or cash that came in to provide these books.

Due to the generosity of the Friends, Neighbors and our sponsors, we were very happy to exceed our goal of 320 books for this event. We were very excited to present these books, on your behalf, to the Placer Action Network's Kids Community Program for their annual Christmas Party last month.


Thank for you providing a book to under resourced children in our community. Y'all are the best!


PCL News
Tony Carmack, Senior Librarian

Placer County Library is back to the full complement of early literacy programs in the Rocklin, Auburn, Colfax, and Granite Bay libraries! These include Baby Lapsit (0-24 months), Toddler Time, and Preschool Storytime (3-5 years of age). Days and hours for all programs can be found on the PCL website. With the return of Baby Lapsit in January, free First 5 California Kits for New Parents are available. The kits contain a touch and feel book and are filled with useful resources and information for caregivers and their baby. There are both English and Spanish versions.

Through partnerships with Placer County Office of Education, the Rocklin Library has hosted several groups requesting presentations on library resources and tours of the collection: 

  • Participants in PCOE’s Independent Learning Program (ILP) visited the Rocklin Library in January. ILP members are youth 14-21 years of age who are aging out of foster care (California allows extended foster care to age 21; 18 is the typical age of emancipation). We shared several of the PCL electronic resources that would aid in resume-building, online learning, computer certification, and exam preparation (particularly Brainfuse, LinkedIn Learning and Skillshare). 

  • In November, we had a visit from Family, Friends, and Neighbors. FFN is a program administered by the Placer County Office of Education for unlicensed caregivers. We demonstrated dialogic reading and other reading strategies, broke down the different collections for children, and gave a tour. 

  • PCOE’s Father Literacy has requested a presentation/tour, as well, and they’re coming for a visit in March. The Father Literacy Project classes are for “any male involved in a child’s life”. 

We try to meet the community’s literacy needs wherever they are, whatever age they are!
Happy Law Enforcement Appreciation Day to our Friends at the Rocklin PD! We are proud of our partnership with the Rocklin Police Department through our Story Time at the Station program. Mark your calendar and bring your littles to our next event. 
We need you!

If you've been wanting to get involved with the Friends but don't know where to start, we need help in the following ways:

Updating the website: We use GoDaddy and their editor is pretty easy to use. Helping us with minor updates from time to time would be all this task requires.

Facebook Content Curator: We would love to put your creativity to work and expand our reach into the Rocklin Community. We have over 1,000 followers and would like regular posts and engagement.

Boxes for our eBay store: Do you have an Amazon box collection? We'd like to take them off your hands! We're looking for A1, A3, 1AD boxes that measure 10X7X3, 10X7X6 and 14X10X3. If you have something comparable that will work.

Email us at info@rocklinfriends.org if you'd like to help.
BOOK SALES UPDATE
Gloria Beverage, Used Book Sales Chair
   Thanks to the generous support of book lovers in our community, last November’s Super Surplus Book Sale brought in nearly $700. That’s a lot of books, CDs, DVDs and jigsaw puzzles, not to mention some unique collectibles. 

    We owe a debt of gratitude to Boy Scout Troop 435 (as well as their parents and grandparents). Those young men provided the muscles and strong backs to move the books to the Parks and Rec office, stayed to help set up the sale and returned that afternoon to move the books back to my garage.

    And a special thanks to the volunteers who worked the sale – setting up, collecting money and packing up. Please know you’re appreciated.
    Riding on the heels of the success of our last sale, we hope to have repeat performances on June 24 and Nov. 4.

    Sales in the bookstore are steadily returning to pre-COVID levels. In an effort to draw shoppers back into the store, we are holding special sales throughout the month. Thanks to Sharon Rindell for creating posters to promote these sales.

    Many thanks to Eve Wise and Alice Pennington for keeping our eBay store stocked with unique and collectible books. Sales are also steadily increasing. 
    Money raised from our various sales support the purchase of books, DVDs and audio tapes for the library collection.

    For the health and safety of our volunteers and the library staff, we are continuing to store donations in my garage. To arrange a donation drop off, send an email to info@rocklinfriends.org.

    Finally, my heartfelt thanks for the infinite energy of the Dream Team volunteers who keep the shelves of our bookstore filled and to the Little Free Librarians who watch over the eight LFLs in Rocklin parks – stocking them as needed. Many thanks to Dennis and Charlotte Delaire Meyers for fixing the boxes as needed.     
Little Free Libraries Restoration Update

Many thanks go out to Dennis and Charlotte Delaire Meyers for their fabulous job of restoring the Little Free Library at Christine Anderson Park. It had been badly damaged in the winter storms and Dennis built a new door and painted it to blend with the existing design. They have been quietly repairing our LFLs for several months now. The LFL in Margaret Azevedo Park, another that had extensive rain damage, is next on the repair list.

So grateful for their generous support!
We are accepting material donations!

The Friends are accepting books, CDs, DVDs, and puzzles for our used book sales. Email us to schedule a time to drop off your donation - info@rocklinfriends.org