Exhibits

Money raised and spent, 1960 to 2017

The Friends raised their money in small amounts: used books sold a few dollars at a time, one- and two-dollar memberships, parties and gifts in memory of members. DVD rentals from 2004 and online book sales from 2006 added new income. The chart sets each year's receipts beside its spending, leaving out money the Friends moved between their own accounts.

What the Friends held at each year end

Until 1980 the Friends spent what they raised, and no year-end balance passed $654. The Evelyn Harris Belasco memorial fund, opened in 1980 after her death, became the first lasting fund; the Save Our Library Fund followed in 1993, during the County funding crisis. By 2017 the Friends held $191,593, most of it in named and invested funds.

Where the money came from, and where it went

Memberships, gifts and parties carried the Friends through the 1960s. Book sales grew from a sideline to about two thirds of receipts from the 1980s on. In every decade, most spending went to books, media, programs and equipment for the Library. Each bar adds up the itemized statements of one decade; grey marks totals that survive without a breakdown.

Receipts by decade

Spending by decade

The named funds: how each grew, and what became of it

The archive records ten named funds and memorial gifts, from the Gazins' 1966 pledge to the memorial funds of the 2000s. Each row charts one fund's year-end balance on a common timeline and the fund's own scale; the figure marks its peak. The text beneath records what became of the money.

One more memorial gift never carried a balance of its own: the Simpson memorial gifts (2008–2010) were deposited to operating cash and spent with general funds.

Solid bars are balances a report gives; hatched bars carry a balance forward or estimate it between reports. Each fund has its own page, listed on the Finances page.

The Board, 1959 to 2019

The Friends elected their officers each January from 1960, and each November from 2010. The archive names a president for 60 of the 61 years, 24 people in all. Bill Malone held office in 26 of the years between 1979 and 2006, 24 of them as treasurer. Charlotte Malone held office in 20 years between 1964 and 2005, as president, vice president or recording secretary.

Presidents

1. 1959–60 Helen Tracy
2. 1961 Bea Bond
3. 1962 Mary Edgerton
4. 1963 Kay Pontius
5. 1964 Charlotte Malone
6. 1965 Lorraine Hales
7. 1966 Beverly Corben
8. 1967 Pat Gazin
9. 1968 Lorraine Hales
10. 1969–70 Dorothy Olney
11. 1971 Pat Gazin
12. 1972 Mary Tyson
13. 1973–74 Betty Ryan
14. 1975 Naoma Valdes
15. 1976 Evelyn Belasco
16. 1977 Pat Gazin
17. 1978 Delma Peery
18. 1979–80 Bill Malone
19. 1981–82 Joan Greenwald
20. 1983–84 Steve Izant
21. 1985–86 Curtney Harris
22. 1987–90 Charlotte Malone
23. 1991–92 John Hales
24. 1993–94 Al Valdes
25. 1995 Tim Ferguson
26. 1996 Charlotte Malone
27. 1997 Tim Ferguson
28. 1998–00 Al Valdes
29. 2001–04 Charlotte Malone
30. 2005 Naoma Valdes
31. 2006 Not yet found
32. 2007–08 Betty Ryan
33. 2009–12 Dorothy Yost
34. 2013 Howard Seeb
35. 2014–15 Bob Luthardt
36. 2016–19 Howard Seeb

Membership

The Friends counted 214 members in their first winter, and the membership chairmen reported numbers at most meetings through 1975. After that the records track dues more closely than heads. Dues rose from $2 to tiered memberships of $25 and $50 in 1992, and income from dues rose with them.

Members reported

Dues received each year

• 1960 Adult membership $1; junior memberships offered. Source
• 1981 Annual membership $2. Source
• 1987 “Yearly dues are still $2.00.” Source
• 1992 Memberships at $2, $25 and $50. Source
• 1994 Friends ($2 or more), Sponsors ($25) and Patrons ($50); membership income reached a high of $1,916 by September. Source

About these exhibits

Every figure comes from a record in this archive: Treasurer's reports and bank statements for the money, election minutes, ballots and newsletters for the Board, and membership reports for the members. The figures are in the dollars of their day and are not audited. Where a report is missing, the charts leave the year blank, except that fund balances between two reports are estimated and drawn hatched.

The exhibits run through 2017 for the money and 2019 for the Board, the years the archive now covers. They are rebuilt from three data files each time the archive is published, so later years appear as their records are added.