Mission

The purpose of The Friends of the Carmel Valley Library is to maintain an association of persons interested in the Carmel Valley Branch Library; to foster community participation in, support for, and cooperation with the library in developing library services and facilities for the community, and to solicit and encourage gifts, endowments, and bequests.

The Big Idea

Through the support of our community, the Friends of Carmel Valley provide an enormous amount of funding, events, materials, physical enhancements and overall support to help make the library the center of our wonderful village. We will continue to support the popular First Saturday Speaker series with speakers that inform our community and entertain our spirit. We will continue to drive major enhancements to the library facilities, including installation of a custom mural in partnership with the Carmel High School Arts Club. And we will launch the very first One Book, One Community event to Carmel Valley via the Library, with a week full of events that aim to bring our community together through the love of reading.

I became the librarian/branch manager of the Carmel Valley Library six years ago and have been working with the Friends of the Carmel Valley Library (FOCVL) since then to serve the needs and wants of the Carmel Valley community. While Monterey County and grants cover library collection, programming, and operating needs, but the costs are not covered 100%. Some items such as new patio furniture and re-landscaping the garden area were covered 100% by FOCVL. The patio is now an inviting outdoor space that patrons use regularly. FOCVL has “filled the financial and staffing gap” countless times, so library patrons can enjoy books they want, and library families can enjoy a variety of library programs throughout the year. Their continuing support of the library ensures that the Carmel Valley community enjoys all that their library can offer in terms of materials, programs, and welcoming environment.

- Eddy Hamelin