In August, everything in our house was covered in plastic sheeting, except for three feet carved out in front of my computer, as the painters busily painted every room in our house–all at the same time. I’m sure many of you have been through this experience, and I took on faith that it will all be worth it when it’s done. I guess this is what you do when you are retired and have that extra time to ‘plan a bit.’ My husband Curt and I raised our two children, Kate and Dwight, in this house on Hemingway Avenue since 1976; it has seen a lot of activity through the years.
This community has been a wonderful ‘home town’ for us and we still want to help good things happen. For this reason, I am honored to have been selected as the new President of San Carlos Friends of the Library–although I’m fully aware I can’t really replace Ann McDonald. She has given ten years of outstanding leadership to SCFOL, creating a strong base of support, positioning the library well for future growth, and assembling an outstanding Board. I am in awe of each person’s dedication and energy on behalf of our library. In fact, I’m hoping I can keep up! Like many local residents, I have taken for granted all the services of the library, especially when our two children were growing up and using it so much.
The mission of the library itself is something I revere. As the City Council-member of this area for many years, I was determined to make it the center of learning and our community life.
Some City-Council/San Carlos Library history: Ann McCullough and I tried to convince the city to buy the old Walker Scott building and transform it into our branch library, utilizing its space and loading docks for a city distribution center. They didn’t buy it. I used my position as an elected official to lead two different city and county-wide initiatives to tax ourselves a quarter of a cent for five years to build and improve all libraries. The voters responded favorably, but we couldn’t reach the required two-thirds approval. Constant battles at City Hall finally resulted in an ordinance that would eventually require 6 per cent of the general fund to be spent on operations and maintenance of city libraries. However, it keeps being waived because of the city’s dire financial situation. (This has led some city council members to call for its elimination!) The Friends of the Library were in the front lines of all these battles and my respect and affection for them knows no bounds. The magnificent plan to bond for library improvements put together by Mayor Dick Murphy and Councilman Jim Madaffer is dead for the time being, but has been reaffirmed by the current city council for when our city finances improve to the point where the city is once again in a position to sell bonds for libraries. The Library Commission, on which I was privileged to serve, is a strong advocate.
All this is to tell you why I am in awe of the Friends and very honored to be given the opportunity to be one of you. Better days are coming. When we get the word that the city council will once again be taking up library issues, we need to be ready. That means that we need a much larger core of strong, active San Carlos Friends (beyond the Board itself) to attend meetings, write letters, make phone calls, etc. In these days of “angst”, it won’t be easy to double or triple our membership. However, that’s exactly what we need to do! Recruit your friends and neighbors. JOIN NOW and your membership is good until January 1, 2011. If we want a modern, new library in San Carlos, we can no longer take for granted that it will be built. Faith without works will not bring it to fruition. The plans are fabulous; it will be worth our efforts!
I look forward to meeting all of you and continuing the work of SCFOL to make the San Carlos branch library the best in San Diego!
Judy McCarty
President, SCFOL
Click here to find out how you can help!
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