Friends are an important part of our lives. Good friends are especially valued.
The Los Banos Branch of the Merced County Library is fortunate to have good friends — the Friends of the Los Banos Library.
This nonprofit organization has been around for more than 30 years, since the 1990s, when the local library would have closed had it not been for the Friends raising funds to keep it open at least for a minimum number of hours.
Since then, many residents of Los Banos have become members of the Friends of the Los Banos Library simply by paying a small annual membership fee — $10 for individuals, $15 for families, $25 for businesses. The organization is currently in its yearly membership drive. (More on this later.)
Over the years the organization has been particularly fortunate to have dedicated active members, people who come to regular meetings (the next one is Wednesday, April 8, at 6:15 p.m.) and work to support the library. They make sure the community is aware of its services and that it has enough funds to comprehensively serve the community.
These active Friends have included over the years volunteers like Colleen Menefee, Joanne Hoefer and Lynnette Gerbi, who initiated the organization in the 1990s. Then other volunteers joined in the next decade, like Patty Ryan, Becky Tietjen, Les and Sandra Polacsy, Jilian Giles and Bob Plass, who worked hard to upgrade the library’s appearance and services –repainting the interior, replacing tables and chairs and adding computer stations.
In the following decade, other folks came forward to add new ideas, including William Via, Gerry Giesel, Bonnie Lindblom and Laura Howard.
Now in the 2020s another group has added an infusion of high energy. These include current board members Erika Jaurez (president), Sandy Pope (vice president), Mariana Pascuet (secretary) and Blanch Jorge (membership), along with longtime member Gerry Giesel (treasurer). This group is taking the Friends to a new level.
Previously Friends focused on the inside of the library, making sure it was a welcoming environment with friendly service and a variety of activities for children and adults. They were very successful, significantly increasing the number of library cards issued to residents, especially children.
And, in conjunction with the Merced County Library staff, especially director Amy Taylor (who believes in the importance of successful branch libraries), the Los Banos Branch now has a wide variety of activities each month, as Westside Express readers can see in the library calendar.
In just one week this year, for example, the first week in April, the local branch will provide a Family Game Night, Animal Story Time, Easter Crafts for Kids, Spanish Bilingual Story Time, Lego Builders Club, Adult Coloring and Teen Cozy Coloring.
The current group of friends continues this “inside” approach but now also focuses on events outside the library — to let community residents, especially children and families, know all that the library offers. At its most recent meeting, President Erika Jaurez provided a schedule of many 2026 events at which Friends set up a table and interact with the public.
These include the National Save-a-Heart Day in February, Arbor Day in March, Kickoff to Summer in May, Movie Nights in June and August, National Night Out in August, Pop-up Vendor Night and Salute to Seniors in September and Breakfast with Santa in December.
In addition, the Friends will be offering two events at the library. Later this month, tentatively on April 18 (to celebrate National Library Week, April 19-26), the group will have a seed and plant exchange (a good metaphor for developing a love for reading). And in October (to celebrate National Friends of the Library Week, Oct. 19-24), they will have a coloring contest and give away books.
All of this takes a lot of energy, work and time, but these Friends are dedicated and determined to spread the word about the importance of reading and of public libraries.
As a college professor once told me, “The single most important thing parents can do to help their children succeed in school, from grades K through 16, is to have books around the home, read to infants and encourage young children to enjoy reading books.”
And the best, easiest and cheapest way to have books around in the home is by checking them out from the local public library. The Friends heartily support that idea.
Which brings me back to the membership drive the Friends are now having. Membership is inexpensive — just 10 bucks for an individual and 15 for a family. Second, there is no obligation involved, just pay the donation and kick back.
However, for those who want to become more involved, the door is always open, which can begin simply by attending a meeting and finding out more about what the Friends are doing, with no obligation to do anything more.
For those who want to become more active and help the organization thrive and spread the word about the local library, there are always opportunities, big and small, to help.
The next meeting of the Friends will be in the Los Banos Branch of the Merced County Library (1312 S. Seventh St., just south of Pacheco Boulevard) on Wednesday, April 8, at 6:15 p.m. (The Friends always meet on a Wednesday evening because that’s the one evening in the week the branch library is open).
The group tries to meet in an area of the library where they will cause the least disturbance to patrons visiting the library then. Down the road, one of the Friends’ big goals is to add a community meeting room to the existing facility. In this way they won’t bother the patrons. The meeting room could also be a place where many other community events, activities and meetings could take place.
I encourage anyone who would like to become involved in this dedicated group to come to the April 8 meeting and/or check out the Friends website at http://www.friendsofthelosbanoslibrary.org/. On this site, among other things, the membership form can be downloaded. Check it out (the website as well as a favorite book).
John Spevak’s email is john.spevak@gamil.com.
