'Friends' to Raise Funds for Library
Money needed for computers, desks, chairs, lights and tables

By Peter Sciacca

Planning for the renovation of the Richmond/Senator Milton Marks Branch Library continues to take shape, with the Friends of the San Francisco Library's recent effort to form a fundraising committee.

"We're in the early stages of putting the committee together," said Marian Chatfield-Taylor, Friends' capital campaign manager. "Committee members are being recruited from the neighborhood and library system."

Friends' role in the project is to raise money for items not covered by bonds and grants being used for the Branch Library Improvement Program. The Richmond branch is the largest project out of the 19 libraries that will be rebuilt or renovated as part of the program.

"I think this is mostly because of the size of the building," Chatfield-Taylor said. "It is also the second-most-heavily used library in the City."

Friends expects to raise at least $500,000 for "soft costs" associated with the project. The library will use the money to purchase various items that cannot be purchased with the bond and grant money.

"More specifically, this includes book carts, chairs for adults and children, desk lamps and tables," Chatfield-Taylor said. "The donations will also be used to purchase computers and other interactive items."

Friends plans to solicit donations from a wide range of sources.

"We're expecting to get contributions from philanthropists, people who frequently use the library, local businesses and large corporations," Chatfield-Taylor said.

Friends was founded to create stewardship and support for the SF Public Library system.

"We support library programs for all ages and interests," Friends' spokesman Coleman Conroy said. "We also promote advocacy for individual libraries so each neighborhood has a library that best suits its needs.

"Aside from donations, a portion of the grants we give to libraries is raised by sales at our bookstores in the city," he said.

Chatfield-Taylor has been with Friends for about two years.

"I was hired specifically to work on the capital campaign to raise funds for branch improvement projects," she said. "I have worked in fundraising and community organizing for several years. I have also been an advocate of libraries my whole life."

Work on the Richmond Branch is expected to begin in the summer of 2005 and take two to three years to complete.

"The biggest improvements will be seismic retrofitting, more space and improved disabled access," said Tim Williams, Richmond Library branch manager. "The only way to access the second floor now is by going up 17 steps.

"We are also going to rewire the building. There are very few outlets to work with."

The addition of 4,000 square feet will free up room for more reference materials on DVD, tape, CD and video. The library's overall collection of reference materials will increase by 20 percent and there will be an emphasis on expanding teen, audiovisual and foreign collections.

"With such a huge Russian and Chinese population in our neighborhood, I think this will be a long overdue addition," Williams said.

Other improvements include two new study rooms, more bathrooms and an area exclusively for teenagers.

The Richmond/Senator Milton Marks Branch Library was the first of seven Carnegie libraries built in San Francisco with grants from philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. The library, recently named after former state Sen. Milton Marks, opened in November, 1914.