Title
Recommendation to Authorize the City Manager to Execute a Memorandum of Understanding with the Friends of the Alameda Free Library for Five Years. (Library 21052300)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Jennifer Ott, City Manager
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Friends of the Alameda Free Library (Friends) and Alameda Free Library (Library) seek to formalize their relationship through a five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The MOU outlines expectations and duties for both the Friends and Library.
BACKGROUND
Founded in 1974 as a nonprofit organization, the Friends support the Library and its programs through volunteer activities and fundraising. The Friends are governed by an all-volunteer Board of Directors.
In 2016, the Friends merged with the Alameda Free Library Foundation, which was created in 1998 to raise money for the long-term support of Alameda's libraries. The Friends were instrumental in the opening of the new Main Library in 2006.
Today, the Friends operates Books For Friends, a used bookstore in the Main Library, that is open Thursday through Saturday. Additionally, the Friends operates the Friends Caf? in the Main Library Monday through Saturday. The Friends also hosts multi-day book sales in the Stafford Room of the Main Library three times per year. In addition to these efforts, the Friends raises funds through donations and bequests from community members.
DISCUSSION
Through donations, fundraising, and volunteer activities, the Friends raises money that directly benefits the Library and by extension the City of Alameda (City).
With funds from the Friends, the Library offers a robust summer reading program each year, author talks and other events of interest to the community, and supplies for crafts events. The Friends is the sole funding source for the summer reading program. In 2024, more than 3,800 people of all ages participated in the summer reading program.
In 2025, the Friends' suppor...
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