20,000 used books, audiovisuals, and puzzles sorted into more than 50 categories will be available. All donated by our generous and well-read RI neighbors.

2012 SPRING  SCHEDULE
APRIL 23 – 28

• Mon. 23^rd 5 – 8:30pm Dealer’s night ($30 admission)
• Tues. 24^th 4 – 8pm Friend’s night (join at the door)
• Wed. 25^th 9:30am – 5:30pm Open to the Public (free admission)
• Thurs. 26^th 1 – 8:30pm Open to the Public (free admission)
• Fri. 27^th 12 noon – 5pm $5 per Bag
• Sat. 28^th 12 noon – 5pm $5 per Bag

Want to help us with the book sale? It’s really fun! Contact us if you’re interested.

ALL WEEK: FREE raffle tickets* for anyone getting a new PCL Library** card or for anyone trading in your old card for the new PCL card. PRIZES: a Kindle, a Wii, and a digital video camera!

Bring a donation of canned food to your library anytime during the card drive, and we’ll waive your PCL overdue fines. Return your overdue books or movies and we’ll waive those fines too! Your donation of food will benefit the Rhode Island Food Bank.

EVENTS SPONSORED BY PCL’s FRIENDS GROUPS!

See info about Kick-off events at each library.

Kick-off Event at Rochambeau Library 708 Hope Street
Feb 23, 2012 • Thurs • 4-8pm

Every library will have storytelling by RI Black Storytellers, FREE books to children (while they last) donated by Books Are Wings; a game table with games donated by Bananagrams,® FREE food and more raffle prizes!

* Winning raffle tickets will be drawn by Mayor Taveras on February 28th at 4:00pm at the Smith Hill Library, 31 Candace Street! ** To get a free library card, bring a current photo ID and one proof of current RI residency (mail/utility bills, etc). Kids under 14 need parent or legal guardian.

More info about events at all branches:  http://www.provcomlib.org/events/pclcarddriveeng.pdf

Taveras Administration Reaches Agreement to Save Libraries

City will lease neighborhood branches for 20 years under mediated settlement.

PROVIDENCE, RI – The administration of Providence Mayor Angel Taveras has reached an agreement with the two independent organizations that operate the libraries that serve city residents that will preserve city branches and protect every neighborhood library in the city.

Under the agreement mediated by retired Superior Court Judge Mark Pfeiffer, the Providence Public Library (PPL), which operates the downtown library and owns seven of the city’s nine neighborhood library buildings, will transfer the seven buildings to the City as a 20 year lease-purchase, at the end of which the City will own the buildings outright.

The City will make an initial payment of $250,000 to PPL from funds held in escrow during the dispute over the future of the libraries. Additionally, the City will make 18 annual payments to PPL in the amount of $264,000, beginning in 2014. The total cost of acquiring the seven neighborhood libraries will be $5 million. The assessed value of the seven buildings is approximately $11 million.

“After months of working closely with the PPL and the PCL, we’ve forged an agreement that will enable us to keep all of Providence’s neighborhood libraries open, once and for all,” said Mayor Taveras. “Today’s announcement is a big victory for the thousands of children and adults who use and rely on their neighborhood libraries every day. I thank Judge Pfeiffer for his assistance in mediating this agreement, and I commend the PPL and PCL for working with my administration to find a solution to the challenges that have threatened the future of Providence’s neighborhood library branches for far too long.”

The agreement, which resolves a long-standing dispute that threatened the future of neighborhood libraries throughout the city, is a big victory for the thousands of children and adults who visit their local library to study after school, participate in adult education programming, borrow books and media, use public computers and enjoy the many resources and programs available there.

“This marks an important milestone for library users throughout the City,” said William S. Simmons, Chairman of Providence Public Library Board of Trustees. “It provides an amazing and unparalleled framework for access to books, computers, and materials whether it be at the Providence Public Library with its deep collections, or at community libraries that serve City neighborhoods.”

The agreement also sets the stage for fundraising and foundation investment to pay for renovations to several neighborhood branches.

Providence Community Library (PCL), a not-for-profit organization that has run the city’s nine neighborhood libraries for the past two years, will continue operating the neighborhood branches. Providence Public Library (PPL) will continue to own and operate the main library on Empire Street that serves as a statewide resource.

“I want to commend the Mayor and the City Council for working so diligently to support the neighborhood libraries and to resolve this issue for the benefit of all Providence residents,” said Marcus Mitchell, Providence Community Library Board President. “Library supporters have rallied around this issue because they recognize the critical role that libraries play in our city. The neighborhood libraries remain a ‘go-to’ community resource, and we’re proud to continue providing these vital services to residents across the city.”

Unlike most cities across the nation, libraries in Providence have not been owned or operated by the city. The PPL operated every library in Providence until 2009, when the system became unsustainable under the existing structure. In response, a group of volunteers established PCL to manage all nine neighborhood libraries, and the city shifted their management and the $3.6 million annual city appropriation that helps pay for them to PCL.

To help with this transition, PPL donated more than $1 million in branch materials, books, tools and agreed to lease to the City the branch buildings for $1 a year. That two-year lease agreement expired in July. The city got the two sides to extend the lease arrangement while a final agreement could be mediated by Judge Pfeiffer.

The Providence City Council was closely involved in efforts to save the city’s library branches, and praised the agreement.

“I am overjoyed to hear that the PCL and PPL have reached an agreement that provides for the continued delivery of library services throughout our neighborhoods,” said City Council President Michael Solomon. “These buildings are the cornerstones of learning in our City and this agreement ensures that children throughout Providence will have access to the tools needed to be successful in school and tomorrow’s workforce. I’d like to thank all parties involved for their time and commitment to this cause.”

“Countless children and families rely on our library branches not only for books, but for internet access, computer classes, ESL courses, and many other important services as well,” said Council Majority Leader Seth Yurdin. “It is in the best interest of everyone that these buildings are kept open and maintained properly so residents can continue to enjoy access to these services.”

The seven libraries included in agreement are the Rochambeau, Mount Pleasant, Knight Memorial, Olneyville, Smith Hill, South Providence, and Wanskuck branches. The Washington Park Library building, which is owned by the City, and Fox Point Library building, which is owned by the Boys and Girls Clubs of Providence, were not included in the agreement.

Source:  Office of Mayor Angel Traveras
http://www.providenceri.com/mayor/taveras-administration-reaches-agreement-to-save

Children’s Books
• Bink & Gollie
by Kate DiCamillo
• Pop!: The Invention of Bubblegum
by Meghan McCarthy
• Junkyard Wonders
by Patricia Polacco
• The Strange Case of Origami Yoda
by Tom Angleberger
• Masters of Disaster
by Gary Paulsen

Teen Books
• Across the Universe
by Beth Revis
• Between the Shades of Grey
by Ruta Sepetys
• Daughter of Smoke and Bone
by Laini Taylor
• Girl of Fire and Thorns
by Rae Carson
• Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
by Ransom Riggs

Adult Fiction
• Night Circus
by Erin Morgenstern
• Swamplandia
by Karen Russell
• IQ84
by Haruki Murakami
• The Buddha in the Attic
by Julie Otsuka
• Open City
by Teju Cole

Adult Non-Fiction
• Steve Jobs
by Walter Isaacson
• Ecstasy of Influence
by Jonathan Lethem
• In the Garden of Beasts
by Erik Larson
• Bossypants
by Tina Fey
• A History of the World in 100 Objects
by Neil MacGregor

Search the Ocean State Libraries catalog to reserve your book now !

Members should receive a copy in the mail.  If you don’t want to get a paper copy anymore contact us.  Or if you didn’t get your paper copy and the mail and want to update your mailing address, please email the Friends of Rochambeau:   friend@friendsofrochambeau.org

If you aren’t a member yet, and want a printed copy, stop by the Rochambeau Library and pick up a copy.  And join the Friends now to get future newsletters.

Press release from Occupy Providence to explain the purpose of the march:
“Two years ago, Providence Public Library (PPL) threatened to shut down nine neighborhood library branches amidst a budget crisis. When Providence Community Library (PCL), a non-profit organization, stepped in to rescue these libraries, the city entered in to a lease with Providence Public Library which will expire on January 1st, 2012. Until PPL transfers the buildings to the city as promised, PCL cannot make desperately needed repairs on the neglected buildings, and the future of the community libraries may be in jeopardy. PPL, a private organization with over $27 million in investments and endowment funds, is demanding that the cash-strapped City of Providence pay several million dollars for these buildings. PPL may be the legal owners of these buildings, but this private organization has no ethical right to them- they were built with substantial public funding, and they belong to the people of Providence! Join us for a rally to demand that Providence Public Library turn these library buildings over to the city! ”

the girl next to me is reading the Odyssey.
I bet she’s in high school.
I wonder if she’s gotten to the part
where Odysseus is given a sheepskin bag with all the winds trapped in it
except the gentle westward one that will blow him home…

that guy over there is just snoozing
with the newspaper open on his chest
and all his belongings gathered under the bench
as if he’s just washed up onshore…

I like to pretend everyone in the library
is the hero of an epic poem
that we’ve all come in from a storm,
like boats into the port of this great hushed island
afloat in the middle of the city;
oh you crowd of masterpieces seated around me,
what a classic we would be if we each
stood up and recited
the greatest battle we ever fought…

but we can’t do that
cause this is the library.

hey city people!
if we are cursed all our lives
to navigate the billboard bombardment outside,
at least there is this silent isle
where we can each pause at the prow of our own private ship,
a fleet of a thousand wandering minds
leaving our wives and homelands behind for a while.
hey, if we can’t have a forest
with a murmuring brook,
at least
we have a forest of marble and books.

city people, we own this place.
each one of us
is a long lost son coming home to inherit it.
cherish it, that ratty old copy of The Odyssey.
see where your ancestors have written runes in the margins?
or at least little hearts next to the good parts,
the wet nurse weeping
when she sees his scar

I like to pretend this is where all of my taxes are going
not to bombs or oil bribes
that my taxes are tithes
to this cult of group solitude
where everyone is a member
screw oprah’s book club
here’s a free library card for you!
and one for you!
and one for you!

let’s just stay here forever
and forget our other lives
there are enough books in the public library
to last us til we die.
I wanna to live immortal on the shelves
with a hard maroon cover wrapped around me
and gold inlay saying my name…
or maybe sneak in,
wrap my stories in sheepskin
and leave it among the classics,
where someone might accidentally cut them open
and draw little hearts in the margins
where my words blew her all the way back across the ocean,
here’s hoping!

I never want to leave this room.
at least not til I am soft
and rested as a well-fed hero,
seated in a really comfortable chair
with a great view of the city
feasting on the last pages
of a book so breathtaking
that when it ends every wind on the ocean is trapped in my lungs
except the gentle westward one
to blow me back home

Laura Brown-Lavoie is a performance poet in Providence.

To all of you who helped create another successful “Friends of Rochambeau” book sale.

Without our most generous DONORS, we would have nothing to sell. Small groups of SORTERS are in the library every weekday taking carts full of donated books to the basement, sorting them according to 50 categories, packing them in boxes when the shelves are full, then unpacking them for the bi-annual sales. A number of friends come in as HELPERS for setting up more than 25,000 books in the conference room. A larger group of faithful “Friends” and newcomers to the enterprise are great HELPERS during the actual sales, at the cash register, on the floor restoring a semblance of order, helping wherever help is needed. And then there are after-sale HELPERS who miraculously restore the place to its former tidy order. The LIBRARIANS are cheerful and tolerant during the whirlwind days; custodian FRANK is indispensable for the whole operation! But what would we do without you, the BUYERS? Thank you!

As a result of the foregoing we were able to achieve our minimum goal of a net of $5,000. If we hadn’t lost two of the six days of our sale (Thurs. and Sat.) to torrential downpours, the bottom line might well have been a record figure.

The ongoing sales from our lobby carts during the same period were extremely gratifying, averaging $500 per month. Again, it was the constant attention of our book sale personnel that made this possible.

Rochambeau branch dropped its entire collection of VHS movies from circulation in August and we were able to sell off the collection for $.50 apiece.

As we were left with a considerable residue of unsold high quality books we were able to donate 60 boxes of books to Knight Memorial Library for their own use.

Respectfully submitted,
Gil Mason
(for the book sale committee)

2011 FALL SCHEDULE
OCTOBER 24 – OCTOBER 29

• Monday, OCTOBER 24 5:00 pm – 8:30 pm Dealer’s Night. $30 Admission. All are welcome!  Specials and Rarities available to view from 3pm
• Tuesday, OCTOBER 25 4:00 pm – 8:00 pm Friends’ Night, Members only! (Memberships available at the door)
• Wednesday, OCTOBER 26 10:00 am – 5:30 pm Open free to the public.
• Thursday, OCTOBER 27 1:00 pm – 5:30 pm Open free to the public.
• Friday, OCTOBER 28 1200 noon- 5:00 pm Fill a bag for only $5!
• Saturday, OCTOBER 29 12:00 noon – 5:00 pm  Fill a bag for only $5!

20,000 used books, audiovisuals, and puzzles sorted into more than 50 categories!

All audio visuals, children’s books and small paperbacks,  50 cents
All large (trade) paperback and hardcover books,   1 dollar
Rarities and specials,   as marked

Want to help us with the book sale? It’s really fun!
Sign up at the Rochambeau Library after October 1st.