Friends of the Library program helps foster kids
The Friends of the Library bookstore is located on the second floor of the Learning Resource Center (Chelsea Jarrell)
Many of us who brag of having friends in high places. Luckily for the Saddleback College library, the playful boasting is not just a pipe dream.
Anna Maria Cobos has been a librarian at Saddleback for 18 years and is a faculty liaison for the Friends of the Library, a program founded 30 years ago.
According to the mission statement, Friends of the Library is “a nonprofit organization under the aegis of the Saddleback College Foundation, promoting the interests of the Saddleback College Library as a cultural, educational, research, and recreational part of the college and the community.”
“They support the library in a number of ways,” Cobos said. “The friends of the Library sell donated books. The donated books on sale on the second floor of the Learning Resource Center cost a lot less then they would otherwise at the bookstore.”
The Friends of the Library have recently expanded their charity work to now include offering scholarships to students in economically deprived situations. “Friends of the Library offers two to three $1000 scholarships per year to children raised in foster families. The student has to spend the scholarship money here, and fill out a lengthy multi-page application showing motivation. We are supporters of upward mobility,” Cobos said.
Cobos explains that the members of the organization are an assortment of alumni, former faculty, and members of the South Orange County community.
“The friends are members of the community, and while they mostly have direct ties to the school, some don’t. ‘Friends’ is a non profit 501 (c) cooperation, and benefactors can get a receipt for a write off,” Cobos said.
“The majority of donated items are books, but also include paintings, and direct monetary donations.” Cobos said, describing ways to contribute.
Students can become members of the FOTL for only $2.
For more information visit http://www.saddleback.edu/library/friends.html or contact Ana Maria Cobos directly at (949)582-4542 or [email protected].