One reason that the El Cerrito Library, despite budget cuts and a cramped building too small for its collection, is enjoying a renaissance of sorts is a corps of volunteers who labor patiently and largely behind the scenes.

The chief support organization is the Friends of the El Cerrito Library, and their big event of the year — the Fall Book Sale — is not only coming up this weekend, but this year for the first time the Saturday morning portion of the sale will be more of a festival with refreshments and family entertainment added in.

Books 'n Brunch

On Satuday, Sept. 24, the "Books 'n Brunch" event will feature coffee, tea, bagels and pastries on sale from Well Grounded Tea & Coffee from 8:30 a.m. to noon, and Mike and Jan James will perform acoustic music from 10 a.m. to noon. From 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, there will also be a kids' tent with story reading and other activities.

The main event — the book sale — is spread over three days: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday; half-price day, noon to 4 p.m. Sunday; and $3-a-bag day, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. the following Saturday, Oct. 1.

Books 'n Brunch was cooked up by Friends board member Lisa Martinengo, who also has her own event-planning business and is  sister of the head librarian, Laura Martinengo. Lisa Martinengo approached Jen Komaromi and Kevin O'Neal of Jenny K and Well Grounded about bringing the brunch part.

Volunteers in the Basement

Well before the book sale, preparations in the library basement, where Monday afternoons find the Friends of the Library volunteers not only sorting and pricing books for the sale but also organizing the other activities, such as the online used-book sales, that have become important sources of support for the library.

"Our goal is to help the library," said Grace MacNeill, president of the Friends and former head librarian at the El Cerrito Library.

She noted that the Friends gave the library $13,000 in the current fiscal year. The organization has about 120 dues-paying members and provides funds to purchase library materials and to support library activities, particularly children's programs.

And the group has found a growing market for selling used books on the Internet. It works with Woody's Books to market the books on Amazon, and then packs them up for Friends member Ann Goolosby to take to the post office.

The online sales effort was started by Friends stalwart Marian MacLeod, a former librarian in Oakland public schools, who continues play a key role in the three-person team that manage the sales.

On a recent Patch visit to the Friends' Monday work session, one of the books that the team was preparing to mail off was Pizza Napoletana! by Pamela Sheldon Johns, published in 1999 by Berkeley's Ten Speed Press with a list price of $17.95. An online buyer in Grafton, WI, had agreed to pay $65 for the Friends' used copy.

Food and cookbooks are popular with many buyers and occupy their own corner bookcase in the basement, tended and carefully organized by Friends member Liz Siquiera.

In the opposite corner of the basement from where Siqueria was working during the Patch visit sat two other Friends volunteers, Lily Ho and Mary Huang, who were helping out with financial bookkeeping.

Though Monday is the Friends' main work day, their work continues throughout the week, especially for MacNeill.

"Grace is here all the time — 24/7," said Goolosby.

A Home Too Small

A long-held goal of the Friends, as well as the library administration and the City of El Cerrito, which owns the library building, is a new and larger library.

"We're going for a new library, which should be done sometime in our grandchildren's time," Goolosby half-joked.

The currently library has no room for more books, Goolosby said. "They're just up to their ears in books."

Every new volume added to the collection means another one has to be removed, she said, unless it were to be taped to the ceiling, which probably is not an ideal solution, in part because the library's old roof leaks.

Why Do They Do It?

Patch asked some of the active Friends volunteers what inspired them to devote their time and effort to the library.

"When you retire, you've got to think of something to do," Goolosby offered.

"We have three ex-librarians, so our heart is in it," said MacLeod.

The shortest answer came from MacNeill: "We like books."

Correction: The original version of this story said the book sale and Books 'n Brunch event will be held Saturday, Sept. 25. It is Saturday, but the date is Sept. 24. The story has been corrected.