Colleen Menefee’s Reading Corner will brighten the Los Banos public library

Reading is a pleasure. Spending time in a library is energizing. Remembering a friend is consoling. The Colleen Menefee Reading Corner in the Los Banos public library will reflect this pleasure, energy and consolation.

A new colorful sign in the Los Banos Branch of the Merced County Library will identify a space in the children’s section as the “Colleen Menefee Reading Corner.” The sign was paid for by the Friends of the Los Banos Library and designed by Friends Bob Plass and Jilian Giles, with the support of county library director Amy Taylor.

Taylor took the proposal to the Merced County Executive Office, and the board approved the designation. She then worked with the Los Banos Friends and the Los Banos branch staff to determine the most appropriate colors and the best location for the sign.

Putting the sign in the children’s books section of the library (to the left of the library’s entrance) is appropriate. Colleen devoted much of her life to inspiring children to read and encouraging them to spend time in their local public library.

The corner is also where the “Wee Wigglers Storytime” took place for many years, sponsored by the Los Banos Rotary Club (of which Colleen was an active member), and continues to host storytimes.

Friends of Colleen will enjoy seeing her name in the local public library, which she spent decades of her life protecting and supporting. In the early 1990s, when the county board of supervisors, in tough economic times, effectively reduced the budget of the Los Banos branch library to zero, Colleen and Phoenix Bookstore owner Joanne Hoefer worked to raise funds to keep it open, at least for a few hours each week.

Colleen had many talks with Merced County Supervisor Jerry O’Banion, who at that time represented the county’s Westside. After listening to Colleen, Jerry promised he would never again support such a deep cut to the library budget, a promise he kept until the day he died

Colleen and Joanne started the Friends of the Los Banos Library, a nonprofit organization to support the local library, and recruited talented and dedicated members like Lynnette Gerbi, Gene Lieb and Becky Tietjen. The Friends since then have continued to recruit new members, organize fundraisers and provide financial support to enable the library to buy books, purchase magazine and newspaper subscriptions, buy new equipment and sponsor events in the library for children.

Colleen came forward again in 2008, after the Los Banos branch had gradually become a gloomy and intimidating facility. She, along with Friend Patti Ryan, convinced other Friends to volunteer to repaint the interior in bright colors and purchase new furniture and decorative art. The library was transformed into a cheery, friendly building.

Today the Los Banos library continues to be a welcoming place, with engaging staff like Nola Ramirez and Alondra Lara. And the branch has the strong support of the county librarian and her staff in Merced, as well as current county supervisor for the Westside, Scott Silveira.

The Los Banos branch, like other branches of the Merced County Library, survived the worst of the COVID outbreak, not closing but instead offering curbside service to patrons who had ordered books online or who had called the circulation desk. And just recently the Los Banos facility was recarpeted, with funding from the Friends of the Los Banos Library and Merced County.

This fall the Los Banos branch, which is now open for in-person visits, continues to offer ongoing services like public computers and free wi-fi. The branch is also continuing a variety of children’s programs like Tiny Tales and Crafts (every Thursday at 10:30 a.m.), Bilingual Storytime and Crafts (every Friday at 10:30 a.m.) and a Sensory Play Group (Wednesdays at 10 a.m. every other week).

The Los Banos library also has continuing family programs, such as Family Storytime and Crafts (every Saturday at 10:30 a.m.), Family Movie Time (first and third Fridays at 3 p.m.) and Family Lego Time (second and fourth Fridays at 3 p.m.).

Recently the local library began new programs like Reading Challenges (through its Beanstalk App); this month’s Teentober Challenge (ages 12-18), in which young persons can earn a free book after five hours of reading; and a Fall Bookworms Reading Challenge (open to all ages to earn prizes).

The library also continues to provide online resources for homework and employment assistance as well as access to e-books, e-audiobooks, and streaming movies. The Merced County Library started Dial-A-Story during the COVID-19 pandemic. Anyone may call (209) 439-5040 to hear a story read by Merced County Library staff in English and Spanish. For more information about library services visit www.mercedcountylibrary.org.

Now when family members and friends of Colleen Menefee visit the library and see all the activity there and notice her reading corner, they will experience the consolation of so many positive memories of Colleen.

Those memories include not only Colleen’s work for the library but also her quarter-century of service as a board member of the Los Banos Unified School District and her decades of effort on the Los Banos Tree Commission (of which she was a founding member).

Over the years Collen did everything she could to help all students in the district succeed and all trees in the community thrive.

Each time I visit the Los Banos public library I will make it a point to visit the Colleen Menefee Reading Corner, think about the good things Colleen did, and hope that others will step forward to continue supporting all the causes that were important to her and our community.

John Spevak wrote this for the Los Banos Enterprise. His email is john.spevak@gmail.com.