There is one place on campus where students, faculty, staff and alumni come together every day to study and learn: the University Library.
The newly established Friends of the Library group at Cal Poly Pomona is committed to enhancing the library’s offerings of books, special events and exhibits. Group members are helping to maintain the library’s vast resources and watching them grow.
“To run a successful library we need all the help we can get,” says library Dean Ray Wang. “Under the current budget climate we feel more than ever the need to establish a group of supporters dedicated to enhancing the resources and services of the library.”
The traditional duties of library support groups include gathering volunteers, building community and supporting the library financially. Other CSU campuses with similar groups include San Diego, Sacramento and San Francisco.
Wang hopes Cal Poly Pomona’s Friends of the Library group also will bring the university’s resources to the surrounding community and promote lifelong learning by encouraging people to read outside of school and classes.
“The Cal Poly Pomona University Library is a powerhouse of knowledge and information, which is available for not only for the campus but also for the larger community,” Wang says. “The group will provide a platform for community members to pursue literacy, lifelong learning and intellectual diversity.”
In addition, the Friends of the Library will assist in the library docent program, special exhibits and the new Library Used Bookshop. Volunteers may also help with oral history interviews and photograph identification for the University Archives.
The Library Used Bookshop runs entirely on volunteers and is located on the fourth floor of the library. To donate to the bookshop, email Leslie Jones at ldjones@cpp.edu. Textbooks, fiction, CDs and DVDs are sold for $2 or less, and proceeds go to the library.
Membership benefits of the Friends of the Library include borrowing privileges, receiving a newsletter, and invitations to special events, lectures, exhibits and workshops. Students, faculty, staff, emeritus faculty and staff, and Alumni Association members are welcome to join.
Individuals who join in 2011 will be recognized as founding members and will have their membership extended through December 2012. For more information, visit www.cpp.edu/~library/friends/friendshome.html.
For more information, contact Ann Morgan, organizing group chair, at (909) 869-4670 or at aemorgan@cpp.edu.
(Top photo: Ann Morgan, Leslie Jones and Lucy Garza in the Library Used Bookshop. Bottom photo: May Mei, a freshman food science major, straightens books on the shelves at the Library Used Bookshop.)