DATE: March 12, 2025
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers
FROM: Library Department
TITLE: ACCEPTANCE OF 2025 DONATIONS FROM FRIENDS OF THE OCEANSIDE PUBLIC LIBRARY
RECOMMENDATION
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Staff recommends that the City Council accept and appropriate donations totaling $97,500, disbursed throughout 2025, from the Friends of the Oceanside Public Library, awarded to the City to support Library services.
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BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS
The Friends of the Oceanside Public Library (Friends) is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization that has supported the Library since 1971. The Friends is 100 percent volunteer driven and independently managed by a volunteer Board of Directors. Its primary source of income derives from the sale of used books and other items that have been donated to the Library, or removed from the Library collection. The Friends operate three bookstores including the Jane & Evie's Used Books storefront at 323 North Coast Highway and two other bookstores located within the Civic Center and Mission Branch Libraries. The Friends also sell books every Thursday at the Farmers Market and on Amazon, and they raise funds through memberships and special event fundraisers.
The Friends give an average of $95,000 per year to the Library. This financial support funds Library events, services and special purchases, including the current amount of $40,000 per year in books and materials for the Library's circulating collection, literacy materials, marketing expenses and makerspace support. The Friends support expenses related to presenting the many Library programs, special events, concerts and cultural celebrations, including supplies, refreshments, presenter fees and other related expenses. All Library programming is made possible by Friends or grant funding, and no regular City General funds are expended on these efforts.
For 2025, the Friends' Board of Directors have approved disbursing a total of $97,500 to the Library. This amount will be disbu...
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