Catheys Valley Friends of the Library

01/03/2022

Rural libraries play outsize role in community

Do we need libraries in the digital age? Librarians and patrons in small rural towns say the services these community hubs offer go well beyond books and are more important than ever.

07/02/2020

"Libraries are being left behind in Congress's pandemic response. When libraries are left behind, our communities are left behind. We need you to take action and urge Congress to provide emergency relief for libraries.

There is currently no dedicated support for America's libraries in new COVID-19 relief packages - though healthcare, small businesses, and numerous other sectors have been included. Representative Andy Levin (D-MI) and Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) are sponsoring legislation calling for $2 billion in emergency recovery funding for America's libraries through the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) The Library Stabilization Fund Act would allow libraries across the country to retain staff, maintain services, and safely keep communities connected and informed.

Urge your Senators and Representative to cosponsor this legislation."

Tell Your Members of Congress to Support Library Stabilization Urge your Representative and Senators to cosponsor the Library Stabilization Fund Act Libraries are being left behind in Congress's pandemic response. When libraries are left behind, our communities are left behind. We need you to take a...

06/30/2020

In this time of severe budget shortfalls, please help the Mariposa County library and its satellite branches to keep functioning. Please donate if you can.* For more info, see the Gazette's June 25 article: https://bit.ly/mariposalibrary

The Mariposa County library system is faced with severe budget constraints, and we are asking our county communities for support with the first of a series of fundraising campaigns. Without extra support, many of the branch libraries may be closed altogether, and the main library ...

05/06/2019

"Once I’m actually enjoying a book, it really does feel as if the pages are turning themselves; I find myself reading in all the little pockets of time that were once reserved for the serious business of checking to see if my dishwasher pods have shipped."

Ditch Netflix for a novel. And not just because a novelist is telling you to.

04/11/2019

04/04/2019

Hmmm. Seems Dr. Seuss got some inspiration from Wanda Gág.

For better (I’d say), or worse, the internet has turned cat people into what may be the world’s most powerful animal lobby.

04/04/2019

"Social infrastructure is the glue that binds communities together, and it is just as real as the infrastructure for water, power, or communications, although it’s often harder to see. But [author] Eric Klinenberg says that when we invest in social infrastructures such as libraries, parks, or schools, we reap all kinds of benefits. We become more likely to interact with people around us, and connected to the broader public. If we neglect social infrastructure, we tend to grow more isolated, which can have serious consequences." This podcast is worth a listen!

Eric Klinenberg is the author of a book called Palaces for the People: How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life. The phrase “palaces for the people” actually comes from Andrew Carnegie who was known as a titan of the Gilded Age and one of t...

01/02/2019

Stories of people who roam the stacks and find unexpected things that just happen to be exactly what they required.

09/27/2018

What dedication! "In 1936, as part of Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal, the Kentucky WPA began to hire pack horse librarians, mostly women, to carry books to isolated cabins, rural school houses and homebound coalminers."

The Keepers: Story #2 During the Depression, those horrible years after 1929, the Appalachians were hit hard. Coal mines were being shut down. Many people were living in dire poverty with no hope. …