Thanks to the amazing volunteers today, we are finally ready for our grand reopening. Ella Bakers Center’s “Throw Down the Town” Volunteer Event brought us about a dozen very enthusiastic volunteers. They labelled the bins, created and hung signs, and of course, counted and sorted books. Everyone says the room looks fabulous. You will all get to see it on Tuesday, August 16th.
Ella Baker Center did a fabulous job organizing the event and thanked everyone with a free lunch, t-shirts and entertainment. We were very proud to participate in this, our first event, in our new home.
Our new location is beautiful and functional, but hidden inside Mosswood Park. We are inside the one story recreation building. Go south from the corner of MacArthur and Webster. Take the first left down the driveway into our parking lot. As you face the building, walk down the sidewalk on the left side of the building and into the entrance. Then follow the signs to our room. It is the last room at the back of the building.
We will be open from 3 to 6 PM on Thursday, August 4th to give away an enormous collection of L. Frank Baum books. There are over 5000 Baum books donated by the Baum Society. There is no limit on the number of books you can take.
Then we will open every Tuesday and Thursday from 3 to 6 PM starting Tuesday, August 16th. The new space is amazing, more than twice as many shelves and convenient storage. It should be a lot easier to find what you are looking for. We are very excited and think you will be too.
On Sunday, July 17th, Ann Daniels & Patrick Dyer and I (Ann Katz) took off on another book project adventure. We were chosen as Silent Auction partner for an A’s game. The silent auction is held on a weekend when the team is home; basically autographed memorabilia is auctioned off and the money raised benefits a designated charity. All proceeds would be donated to the East Bay Children’s Book Project. We could have a table and pass out information to the fans about the Project.
We were greeted by the ultra organized Detra Paige who provided us with tickets, parking passes and MC Hammer Bobbleheads. We had a table and exactly three chairs. She actually came back to check on us several times and was almost as excited as we were as we watched the auction results.
I had visions of running the auction and signed up for cell phone Visa donations. So we were surprised when we got there and found these wonderful ladies all set up to handle the auction. They were a couple of retired teachers (we run the world, you know) who worked all the home games and had this auction down to a science.
Then we got to meet their customers. These people were adamant collectors who competitively bid for the items they wanted. But they had to wait until the second out of the 5th inning so they had time to talk to us, learn about our program and make donations.
It was an amazingly easy and profitable fundraiser. The fans were amazingly supportive. The A’s won 9 to 1. And, best of all, we are invited back next year.
We are moving to the Recreation Center at Mosswood Park, 3612 Webster St., Oakland, CA 94609. For the first time, we will have our own space and handy storage. There is a parking lot and free parking in the neighborhood. It should be a fabulous location for us. We are very excited.
Our first work day is scheduled for Saturday, July 23rd at 9 AM. Please join us if you have time.
We plan to reopen on Tuesday, August 16th.
