Ladies in flapper dresses and feather headbands and men in bowler hats merrily strolled into Central Park Library on the evening of Feb. 27. Hanging on the library’s walls were large paintings with environmental themes by artist Chen Wanshan. A jazz trio from the Santa Clara Vanguard set the rhythm with jazz and ragtime tunes. Students from Mission College’s Hospitality Management program offered hors d’oeuvres, such as deviled eggs, finger sandwiches and turkey rolls. Cigarette girls passed out candy cigarettes and chocolate cigars. The Great Gatsby was the theme for the Santa Clara City Library Foundation & Friends’ third annual Love Our Library Lollapalooza. About 150 people attended and the event raised about $57,000.
“We are hosting the Lollapalooza to raise funds for the Library Foundation & Friends which supports extras at the library, such as the summer reading program,” says Tracy Wingrove, executive director of the Santa Clara City Library Foundation & Friends.
This year, the library foundation recognized the Mission City Community Fund (MCCF) as its Library Hero. Mayor Lisa Gillmor, last year’s Library Hero honoree, introduced MCCF and presented a plaque to Debi Davis, MCCF vice chairperson and city councilmember.
“They have done a tremendous amount of work, especially for the library,” Gillmor says. “So far, the Mission City Community Fund has raised more than $80,000 for the library.”
“We are honored to accept the award from the library foundation,” Davis says. “We appreciate everything the Santa Clara City Library does for the community.”
“We are very pleased to be recognized as a strong partner with the library,” says Steve Ricossa, chair of the MCCF, interviewed before the event. “We invite other 501(c)(3)s like the library foundation to apply for grants for various projects.”
California State Librarian Greg Lucas, special guest speaker, showed off his unique socks featuring vintage yellow check out cards for library books.
“It’s humbling for me to travel around the state and meet with people like all of you who understand how much libraries and the people who love libraries improve the quality of not just the lives of ourselves but of the people that the library touches,” Lucas says.
At the party, raffle prizes included a Keypoint Credit Union gift basket and a golden paddle. The golden paddle, resembling a giant gold lollipop, was used at the live auction for $500 worth of bidding credit.
Each guest received a big bookmark tagged with an individual number. Bidders in the auction lifted their bookmarks like bid paddles as auctioneer John Lumm called the bids for the live auction items: lunch with library director Hilary Keith, lunch with assistant city librarian Paul Sims, a historical walk through Santa Clara with former librarian Mary Hanel, a group cooking class at Yan Can Asian Bistro with Chef Cory Chen, an interactive play reading and afternoon tea with former librarian Ellin Klor and former city librarian Julie Passalaqua, tickets to a celebrity forum with dinner certificates, a dinner for eight prepared by Mission College’s Hospitality Management program, and a book donated by former city councilmember Kevin Moore.