Business Directory

Book to share the history of the Saratoga libraries

It's fitting that a lifelong Saratogan, who obtained his first library card at age 6 and still possesses the faded relic some 70 years later, is the author of a forthcoming limited edition book titled A History of Saratoga's Libraries.

Since that bibliophile is Willys Peck, he also possesses the credentials of being called Saratoga's Official Honorary Historian, as well as being a former journalist and attorney, and a current Saratoga News historical columnist and part-time copy editor with the San Jose Mercury News.

With all this in mind, the Friends of the Saratoga Libraries recruited Peck to author A History of Saratoga's Libraries, which will be published this coming summer. The inspiration came to Jim Givens of the Friends group, who heard Peck speak at a Friends program in March about Saratoga's libraries.

"I realized that all this history could be lost if it's not documented," Givens says. "The whole purpose of this project is to draw attention to the history of the libraries."

Printing, to be done by Berkeley's Arts & Crafts Press, will be limited to 350 copies.

The highlight of its illustrations are two never-before-published photographs by Ansel Adams of the old Oak Street Village Library that served Saratoga for many decades until the current Saratoga Community Library on Saratoga Avenue opened 22 years ago.

According to Peck, who is also a Friends supporter, Adams took the photographs some time in the 1920s or '30s and gave them to the library's architect Eldridge Spencer, who also happened to be Adams' friend. Until their recent discovery, the photos were stored away in the office of head librarian Dolly Barnes.

Also appearing in the book will be stylized block prints of apricots and fruit trees--hallmarks of Saratoga's former agricultural days--and the library, crafted by Bay Area artist Yoshiko Yamamoto. The book will be hardcover with full cloth-on-board binding, printed endpapers and a printed slipcase.

"I think anything that's part of a city's history should be documented historically," Peck says, adding that anyone who enjoys visiting local museums or studying Saratoga's civic and cultural background will enjoy A History of Saratoga's Libraries.

The book may be preordered by sending a check for $175 ($125 of which is tax-deductible) to the Friends of the Saratoga Libraries, P.O. Box 2642, Saratoga, 95070-0642.

According to Givens, the book is scheduled for distribution in August 2001, the same month as the groundbreaking for the expansion and renovation of the Saratoga Community Library. A prospectus of the book is being published now. For additional information, call Jim Givens at 408.378.5644, or Mary Jeanne Fenn at 408.867.0564.

--Shari Kaplan, Metro , November 8, 2000