Blogs › Becca Whitnall

By REBECCA WHITNALL

Thank you Agoura Library Friends

Posted 9:42 a.m., April 24, 2008

Thank you to The Friends of the Agoura Hills Library. At the Wednesday Agoura Hills City Council meeting, Tom Allen, Friends president, honored The Star and the Acorn with certificates and gold leaves (to be added to the library's permanent donor "tree") for their assistance in spreading the word about the happenings at the library.

"These two organizations have for an extended period of time provided free publicity for the library in their papers and in the online YourNews site run by The Star," said Allen.

It probably would come as no surprise that journalists tend to be fans of libraries in general -- at least the ones I know are -- so really, the honor is ours to be able to provide a public service such as helping to get the word out about all the exciting happenings, collections and services at the library.

According to community library manager Raya Sagi, who also spoke last night, highlights include live homework help, downloadable audio books, special collections on the holocaust, California missions, Parenting and foreign languages, wifi, and ongoing children and family programs on a weekly and monthly basis. The collection comprises approximately 122,349 adult and children's books; 152 magazine and newspapers; an extensive audiovisual collection of 8,207 audio recordings including books-on-tapes, and 9,894 video recordings including DVDs, according to its Web site.

And to think - it's all available for free.

The Friends of the Library helps to fund the collection and programs. In fact, according to Allen, under the current leadership, the support organization has been able to act favorably on every request for funding from the library. Though some funds come from dues from the membership, which has grown 130 percent under its current leadership, most money raised comes from the Bookcellar, the basement used book store, where books sell for as little as 50 cents apiece. The shop is open Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The Agoura Hills Library is one of 88 in Los Angeles County system. The 17,500 square foot facility is at 29901 Ladyface Court. For more information about the library, call 818-889-2278.