Meet the President Nancy Lawrence is the President of the Foundation. When Nancy agreed to be the Board president she had one thing in mind which was making the Foundation sustainable. And indeed, through Nancy’s support, persistence, and willingness to understand the entire operation, she has achieved her goal. This year is the first year the Foundation has been sustainable and while credit is due to everyone ever involved over the years, Nancy is the community member who brought us to the finish line. Her love for the library began as a child and was solidified as a teen on the third floor of the Carnegie Central Library – having skipped her classes to finish a term paper on epistemology. What brought Nancy back to our library was the collection of opera scores located at the Central library.
Nancy can tell you about walking into the library at Bret Harte Elementary School as a child. It was a lovely tranquil light-filled space filled with books on low shelves just right for children. Students could approach the shelves and find what they wanted - the ones with pictures being the best. At one of the tables, Charlotte’s Web was introduced to everyone. At Oak Park Library, summer reading involved rocket ships heading toward some exciting goal. The rockets were flannel and your ship moved up as you read more books.
These libraries opened up a wonderful world of adventure and ideas. Serving on the Sacramento Public Library Foundation Board has enabled her to help to keep those resources available to other children. Some of our children do not have school libraries or parents who will read Babar the King or Winnie the Pooh. But our public libraries can help both parents and children learn the value and joy of reading. | |
