River Friends of the Library

Joining the Friends

The River Friends of the Library is a tax-exempt IRS 501(c)(3) organization. We are an all-volunteer group dedicated to augmenting library programs and services. The River Friends supports the Guerneville Regional Library as well as its satellite branches – Forestville and Occidental and all the West County Russian River communities that surround them.

Your membership in the River Friends contributes to your local community and supports your local library. Your volunteer efforts also give you the chance to meet with others of similar interest, use some of your skills for our book and bake sales and other projects, and just feel good about being needed!

River Friends Board

The River Friends of the Library Board consists of its elected officers and committee chairs. We meet bi-monthly usually on the second Wednesday of the month at 4:30 p.m.

The Art Committee coordinates and works with library staff at Guerneville library to emphasize artistic expression in our community’s youth and to arrange display of art produced.

The Book and Bake Sale Committee:

The River Friends generally holds three major sales a year and this committee coordinates all the tasks associated with the sales as well as running the book sale shelves inside the Guerneville Library. We also have book carts located at the Forestville and Occidental libraries as well as within the Cazadero and Duncans Mills General Stores.

Book Donations:

We gratefully accept donations of used book, CDs, DVDs, and other media as well as sheet music, puzzles, and other items.

We cannot accept soiled, musty, moldy, or otherwise damaged items. Unless they are within 5 years of publication date, we also cannot accept textbooks, encyclopedias, computer guides, legal and medical books.

If you have a large number of materials you wish to donate (more than a couple of bags), please call the Guerneville library during open hours and they will give us your contact information so we can arrange pickup.

Book donations will be suspended between Saturday, August 5, 2023 and October 2, 2023. If you have items to donate during these weeks – please contact another regional library to see if they will accept your items. Please do not leave them at the library. Staff will be unable to accept them, and they will discarded.

Our remaining 2023 Book and Bake Sales:

Saturday-Sunday, August 19 – 20
Saturday-Sunday, December 16 - 17

The Membership Committee is responsible for keeping lists of current and past members thereby ensuring that we have a vibrant and responsive membership.

The Newsletter Committee is responsible for producing our quarterly newsletter and sending it to the membership as well as making copies available for the patrons of the library.

Current Newsletter: May, 2023

The Publicity Committee is responsible for publicizing our book and bake sales and other events with the local media as well as on social media. The committee chair also maintains our website, our Facebook page and our Twitter account.

The Readers Theatre Committee is responsible for setting up and running the Readers Theatre programs.

The Young Writers Contest Committee coordinates and works with library staff at Guerneville library to encourage creative writing in our community’s youth and to arrange the ceremony for contest winners, their families, and the public.

For more information or to volunteer for any of these committees or events, please email riverfriendsofthelibrary@gmail.com

To join the River Friends of the Library please visit our website at: riverfriendsofthelibrary.org/membership.