Newspaper clippings · 1998Estimated date
Manhattan Beach Friends — Rockie Elkind and Laura Zoerner
Anne Zleit profiles the neighboring Friends group, its sales and loss of its school-based storage space. Its membership and income figures concern Manhattan Beach.
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Bright Lights
Rockie Elkind and Laura Zoerner
by Anne Zleit
Manhattan Beach residents Rockie Elkind and Laura Zoerner love books — so much so they've devoted themselves to an organization that exists solely for them.
That is the Manhattan Beach Friends of the Library, a group of 295 members, mostly retirees, and 30 core volunteers, who sell used books to raise funds to support the Manhattan Beach library, as well as the Manhattan Beach Unified School District.
Rockie Elkind and Laura Zoerner
With Elkind as president and Zoerner as vice president, the organization raises approximately $12,000 to $13,000 each year through book sales and membership dues, which it uses to help fund city and School District library programs.
For both Elkind and Zoerner, involvement with the Friends of the Library was only natural.
"One of my dreams was to have a bookstore," said Elkind, who got involved with the Friends in 1990 following her retirement. "You couldn't get much closer than this. I like being surrounded by books — so much so that there is no more room in my house. I also like knowing that we're making a contribution to the community."
Her favorite books include historical fiction, mysteries and biographies.
Zoerner, who got involved with the organization within the last five years after working for it part time in the 1980s, joined for similar reasons.
"It's a lot of fun," she said. "I enjoy being around people who love books as
The Friends conduct their book sale the second Saturday of every month from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the multipurpose room at the Manhattan Beach Library. It sells most hardback books for $1 and paperback books for 25 cents. First editions and collectibles are often sold for slightly higher prices.
According to Elkind and Zoerner, the group's main mission now is finding a permanent home — a goal it's been trying to achieve for some time.
The Friends of the Library was evicted from Pacific Elementary School in November 1996 when the School District informed the organization that it needed the space as a result of class-size reduction. When that happened, the School District allowed the organization to store its books in a warehouse located at Peck Street and Manhattan Beach Boulevard. However, just last month, it was informed once again by the School District that it needed the space.
Prior to Pacific Elementary School, the organization occupied a room at Robinson Elementary School for 14 years.
Until it finds a permanent home, the Manhattan Beach library is allowing the organization to store its approximately 20,000 books in boxes in the library's multipurpose room, where it conducts its sales.
"Our goal is to find a home from which we don't have to move — a home where we can put up a permanent display for our books," Elkind said. "So if anyone has suggestions we need one desperately."
Elkind and Zoerner said that if they have their own place to store their books it will allow them be open more often.
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