Friends of the Altadena Library

About the Friends

Established in 1959, the Friends of the Altadena Library (FOAL) is an organization committed to the support of the Altadena Library District and its programs and services. The purpose of the Friends is to stimulate public interest in the library, assist with funding to purchase library materials, and to support cultural and educational programs at the Altadena Library.

With the easing of restrictions, the Friends are now able to hold book sales and receive donations.

Throughout the pandemic, the Friends held virtual, interactive events via Zoom. You can find recordings of some of these events below. We also hold monthly Board meetings, except during the summer months of July and August. When we start them again in September, they will either be on Zoom or in person.

Board of the Friends

Tom Ruffner
President

Marne Brown
Vice President

 Mark Mariscal
Treasurer

Jannette Allen
Recording Secretary

Marlane Forsberg
Membership Chair

Friends of the Altadena Library Events

Have you missed some of the recent virtual events hosted by the Friends? Click below to enjoy!

How to Get Involved

Attend Our Board Meetings: The Friends of the Library meet virtually via Zoom on the first Tuesday of the month at 6 p.m. PT. Please check the Library calendar for upcoming meetings. You do not need to be a member to attend and we welcome anyone who has an interest in what the Friends do and/or would like to become more involved! 

The Friends accept book donations at the Main Library located at 600 E. Mariposa Street, Altadena, CA 91001.

Become a Friend!

As a Friend of the Altadena Library, you will receive

• Special invitation to the Friends’ “Pre-Sale” Used Book Sales

• Free events and programs

• The satisfaction of helping to support our local libraries

Annual Membership Dues:

• Individual: $10

• Family: $25

• Sustaining: $50

• Patron: $75

• Benefactor: $100+

• Friend For Life: $500

Click here to Pay your dues online

OR Make checks payable to: Friends of the Altadena Library

Checks can be mailed to:
Friends of the Altadena Library
PO Box 6633
Altadena, CA 91003

OR Pay at the Information desk at the Main Library!

Our Journey: History of the Friends

The word “Friend” immediately brings to mind the people who help celebrate all the goodness in life and stand steadfast when times are troubled, who offer support when it’s needed and offer counsel to help us see the straight path. We count on our friends and they count on us.

The Altadena Library has friends – Friends of the Library! In 1959, a couple hundred civic-minded residents joined together to form the Friends of the Altadena Library. After a couple of years of highly successful book sales, the Friends paid for the professional survey that ultimately led the district from a small building on Lake Avenue to the mid-century modern library of today on Mariposa Street. But they didn’t stop there. The Friends organized support for the bond campaign that paid for more than half of the library’s construction, and with continued revenue from their annual sales, the Friends paid for all the furnishings in the new library’s community room.

Paging through the library’s collection of scrapbooks filled with old photos and faded news clippings, it’s easy to see that the Friends have been good and constant friends over the years. Trying to tabulate all their support produces an incredibly long and varied list of programs and materials. Large-print books. Sound-films (a long ago precursor to DVDs). Summer reading prizes. In 1976, the Friends commissioned and completed a quilt featuring Altadena symbols to commemorate the American Bicentennial. (Once hanging in the library, it’s now preserved and on display at the Altadena Historical Society if you’d care to see it.) The Friends paid for repairs to the library’s roof and lighting and circulation desk enhancements. They purchased a copier and paid for the library’s Christmas tree every December. For fans of verse, Poetry and Cookies, the library’s annual poetry review, is brought to you courtesy of the Friends. In 2006, they refurnished the children’s library with new carpet, child-sized tables and the distinctive owl-emblazoned chairs. And a few years back, they presented the world premiere staged reading of the Zane Grey Playwriting Contest winner, “Surprise Valley” by Mary Casey, in an event held at the Zane Grey Estate with speakers and guests including Ray Bradbury, Jervey Tervalon, local authors Naomi Hirahara and Lian Dolan, John Dean, historian Dr. Kevin Starr, and JPL planetary scientist Dr. Rosaly Lopes. Proceeds from this event helped get the Altadena Library Foundation started.

On a trip to the library, it may be easy to walk right by their bookstore, but who among us hasn’t donated a few no-longer-beloved books to their regular sales, replenished children’s bookshelves with lovingly used picture books or chapter stories from their collection, given up those murder mysteries that just don’t keep our interest the second time around to follow the fortunes of a different detective or turned in a cookbook that no longer appeals in favor of another with promises of fresh new tastes—all at prices far below what we would pay at a book store.

The Friends’ mission at their founding was:

“…to inform the public of the resource needs of the library, foster the development of cultural programs for the community centered in the library, and to encourage gifts of desirable collections for public use and enjoyment.” – History of the Altadena Library, 1908-1967

Their mission, in more current language, remains the same today. The organization is run entirely by volunteers, people who are devoted to the library. And the Altadena Library District is much richer for having such good friends, these dedicated individuals who embody the philosophy of the French poet and priest Joseph Roux:

“Have friends, not for the sake of receiving, but of giving.”

…Though they gladly receive our donated books! If you love our library like they do, consider becoming a Friend, too.