Volunteers make this library something special

By Mike Wood

Staff writer

Friday, September 12 (3:00 p.m.): Let this be known: The Rossmoor Library is not a “shhh” and keep quiet library.

No need to whisper ‒ friendly conversation and laughs are encouraged within the library at Gateway.

Entirely self-sustained by residents, the library’s lifeblood is its volunteers, nearly 40 strong. The friendly aura is a bit like TV’s “Cheers,” minus the beer taps. Everybody does seem to know your name, as many library “regulars” tend to come in on the same day each week.

“We can actually tell what day it is from who’s come into the library,” said Kit Kennedy, president of the Rossmoor Library Association. Some visitors’ routines are so expected that if they don’t show up on their “day,” volunteers have been known to check on them to see that they are OK.

Some folks stop in before or after bridge, played down the hall at Gateway. Others come in just to say hello.

“That’s why we are not a quiet place,” Kennedy said. “We want people to come in and feel comfortable.”

With a comprehensive digital directory and website and a book circulation of over 10,000, it is quite a library, but the camaraderie between the volunteers and library patrons – any Rossmoor resident can use the library – sets it apart.

“It’s very important for these people to come in and know that they’re welcome and they can spend time with us,” said Lori Weston, one of the library’s three coordinators. “Some people come in to socialize, because they do not have any other place.”

The library is also a stop for potential new homeowners; some might anticipate a library about the size of a kiosk and then are blown away.

“A lot of times, Realtors will come in when they’ve got a prospective buyer,” Kennedy said. “And to see the reaction of people who walk in … they’ll say, ‘This is a professional library!’”

Weston added, “We had two people today who said that the reason that they bought here was because of the library. We get that quite often.”

Often, residents arrive with a list, perhaps from the “Library Corner” newspaper listing of recently added books, or suggestions from a reading group, friends or family.

In demand

Nonfiction is in hot demand now, those at the library said, and that’s not limited to Rossmoor.

“If you look at the bestsellers in the New York Times in the last six or eight months, everything is either romance, escape …  there’s not a serious book in the lot,” Weston said. “It’s a huge change. It’s a huge shift. Because people have got enough to contend with, and they don’t want to contend with any more.”

Sci-fi and fantasy are hot now, too, Weston said. And romance novelist Danielle Steel is having a renaissance, she said. Nonfiction requests are straying from political topics, she noted.

“People will come in and say, ‘I don’t want to read anything serious. Just take me away. Give me a love story. Give me a fantasy. Give me a cozy mystery where people die, but they don’t talk about how much blood and gore there is,’” Weston said.

“There’s a home for everybody here,” she said.

Prominently displayed are books by Rossmoor authors, through the library’s relationship with the Published and Aspiring Writers of Rossmoor club, from which there’s featured authors each month.

There’s also a children’s collection, donated by a resident.

One time, Kennedy said, a resident came in to pick up a children’s book, not for a grandchild but for his wife. He said it was because his wife has dementia, and that’s the way the couple connects.

“You never know the power of a book,” Kennedy said.

Demand is big for books with larger print, and because bookshelf space is tightly managed, titles with large and normal type often are the only instances of duplicates in circulation.

“Large print is a huge draw for us,” Weston said. “We have a much larger, a much wider large print selection than even Contra Costa because of our population.”

The library has audio books, strictly through donations. DVDs are in high demand, but getting newer releases has become a problem, said Weston.

“A lot of people who live in Rossmoor do not want to stream, because they don’t want to deal with the computer, and because they don’t want to pay for it,” Weston said.

But because streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime are popular nationally, that has dried up production of new DVDs, she explained.

“We’re in a place where it’s very difficult for us to source hard copies of DVDs because nobody’s making them,” Weston said.

Earlier this summer, the library expanded its hours to open earlier. It’s now open at 10 a.m. five days a week, Tuesday through Saturday, at noon on Monday, and is closed on Sunday.

Making things tick

While volunteers aren’t paid, what they do is a real job, Weston said. They check books in and out or renew them, add new patrons to the library’s system, and handle money – one loyal patron donates $2 every time she comes in.

Some computer skills are needed to work in the library, Weston said. Volunteers also need to bend and lift so they can show books to patrons.

“But the most important things are to have the right attitude and the right customer service skills; that is absolutely the most important thing,” she said.

The library’s three coordinators, Deanna Gaige, Paula Nichols and Weston, fill important roles.

Gaige is among a handful of volunteers with extensive library experience. Having worked in large systems including the New York Public Library, Gaige implemented the Rossmoor Library’s robust automated system in 2014.

Working with this library for 14 years, she maintains the system, including the online catalog, produces statistical reports, heads the collection development, chairs a book-selection committee, orders and catalogs new titles, and works with Weston, who runs circulation, to update policies and procedures.

“I enjoy collaborating with other volunteers, several of whom are retired librarians, on new projects and services,” Gaige said. “Working most often behind the scenes, I enjoy problem-solving issues with our automated system … With a limited budget, which comes from donations, we try to meet the needs of our community.”

Nichols’ role is administrative, keeping library slips stocked for requests, donation and more, updating schedules and creating reports on items like overdue books and petty cash.

“I enjoy working in the library for the people – the volunteers and patrons,” Nichols said. “I have made friends, and I enjoy the conversations we have and also enjoy helping the patrons find books.”

When a book seems to be missing, a search team hunts it down.

“It’s like a detective team,” Weston said. “That is the most fun part of working in the library. Because you would not believe how many places a book could be.”

If any books in the circulation begin to fall apart, Martha Hawkins steps in and repairs them.

“If the binding is coming off, she’ll get out the glue and whatever,” Weston said. “She’s brilliant at it. She’s even gone online and copied a page of a novel and pasted it in there.”

Donations and book sales

New books are mainly purchased from Baker and Taylor, the nation’s top supplier of library content. As regular customers, the library gets a discount, and while it’s cheaper than going through Amazon, it’s still expensive, Weston said. Therefore, donations and the library book sale – weekly on Fridays on Peacock Plaza during Farmers’ Market season and inside the library in colder months – are important. Also, residents who use the library are requested to make a $25 annual donation.

The Rossmoor Library tends to get newer books sooner than the public library, and waiting lists are often shorter. There’s a program in which a resident can order a book from the large Walnut Creek library and have it shipped to the orange lockers at Gateway, with deliveries on Tuesday and Thursday. Residents can go to https://rossmoorlibrary.org and search the Rossmoor catalog, renew or place a hold on a book, and find a link to the Contra Costa County Library system.

New additions include a vivid full-color digital display with a slideshow of new book arrivals and other library information. There’s also the Library Speaker Series, soon to enter its third year.

Also on the horizon is next year’s 50th anniversary celebration of the library, which became a self-sustaining entity in 1976 after it previously had been part of the county system.

“I think that the one thing that makes the library successful is we really enjoy working together,” Weston said. “We try very hard, and we always put the patron first.”