Manchester Library Friends Newsletter

April 2008

Event Schedule

Apr 11 9:30 - ? Garden Clean up

Apr 19 9-2:00 Plant and Bk Sale

Apr 23 7-8:15 pm Board meeting

May 9 9:30 - ? Garden Clean up

May 28 7-8:15 pm Board meeting

Jun 13 9:30 - ? Garden Clean up

Jun 15 12-4:00 Salmon Bake/Bk Sale

Sep 13 9-3:00 Book Sale

Nov 11 9-3:00 Book Sale

World Famous Plant Sale Nears!

The FOML plant sale will be held Saturday April 19, in the library parking lot from 9 to 3. Donations of plants are welcome the afternoon before (from 3 to 5, if possible) so they can be priced. Call Norma Brady 871-2987 to let her know what plants you have available or if you’d like to help. We need LOTS of volunteers that day! We’ll have a book sale that day as well, and will need help setting that up Friday afternoon, and selling books. Call Carol Campbell 871-8720 if you can help with the book sale.

Summer Volunteer Opportunity

The Long Lake Garden Club organizes the library’s garden maintenance, and will need your help again this year. Work parties are scheduled for Second Fridays (9:30 am) from April through October. This regular program of care resulted in the gardens looking GREAT all last year, so let’s do it again! Come prepared to weed, trim, and clean up the gardens. Call Carol 871-7820 if you have questions or would like to volunteer.

Elections held

Results of the February election of officers:

Eric Cisney, President

Ray Pardo, Vice President

John Winslow, Secretary

Carol Campbell, Treasurer

Rich Weixler, Director #2

(Julie Brummond’s and Norma Brady’s terms as directors continue)

The Library Staff Recommends:

People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks.

Geraldine Brooks, Pulitzer Prize-winning author, has written a novel based on one of the earliest Jewish religious volumes to be illuminated with images. The “Sarajevo Haggadah” has survived centuries of book-burnings and wars thanks to people of many ethnic and religious backgrounds who risked their lives to ensure its safety. The book’s story revolves around a rare-book expert from Australia who is launched into a historical mystery of who these people were. The story flashes between present day and then back to the historical “facts” as imagined by the author. It is an enthralling fictionalization of the history of what this real document could have been. The heroine’s personal life is woven into the fabric of the story. It is simply a good read that will transport you through a real history, modern forensics, and the power of belief and love.

-- Dee D’Haem

Winter Book Sale

The February book sale netted just over $930. The library’s changed hours of operation means the sale opened four hours before the library did; there was perhaps less traffic in those first hours, but overall the result was still satisfactory, and our thanks go out to all those anonymous donors who continue to bring their books to the Friends for resale!

MEROB results

February 9th Book Sale:   How did sales compare to last year? Overall, we sold the same percentage (42%)  of  books displayed in the February sales in 2007 and 2008. However, different book categories were in demand:

Feb 2007 Feb 2008

Science 80% 52%

Art 83% 43%

Pet/Animals 62% 38%

Gardening 20% 75%

Cooking 35% 65%

History/ Biog 62% 15%

Self-Help 47% 32%

Travel 50% 45%

Sports 47% 36%

New categories this year:

Hobbies/Crafts/Sewing 36%

Home Projects/Woodworking 58%

 How do we know?  The Friends’ creative system is MEROB, for “Measure Every Row Of Books.”  It takes two set of hands and a tape measure -- then we measure the row of books (across the spines).   The “before” measurement is taken just before the doors open, after all the books are put out in their various categories.   The “after” measurement requires a fast cleanup of the disorder the buyers leave, so that the remnants in each category can be measured before being boxed and/or put on the shelves.  

There were 255 inches of books sold for $930 on February 9th this year, versus 290 inches for $1306 on February 10th, 2007.    The $4.25 per inch in last year’s February sale is the record since we started measuring.    This year’s $3.76 per inch is second.

Why is this information useful??   For one, it allows us to keep an eye out for books in categories that sell.   Secondly, we can weed out books in categories where sales fall off.  Finally, we can experiment in book placement and book pricing.

If you would like the complete sales analysis or have suggestions for our next MEROB exercise, let us know.

Gardeners: Take a Day or Two

and visit a garden or nursery during these spring days. Often we are so busy in our own yards this time of year that we feel we can’t afford time off to enjoy what is blooming all around us. During my many years with the arboretum in Seattle I was fortunate to visit gardens all over the Northwest and Canada, but I have concluded that we have some of the best ones right in our area. So let’s begin by stopping by Lisa’s Leaves on Ahlstrom Rd off Beach Drive. This is a small affair but is growing daily, and is a lot of fun – and you’ll be caught up by Lisa’s exuberance. Open on Mondays (tel. 731-1371). Head toward Gorst and spend an hour or two at Elandan Gardens. Try to go when the tide is high and the water is lapping at the huge retaining logs while you are walking around a truly gorgeous garden. You’ll be very surprised at the gift shop and will wonder why you hadn’t been there earlier. Closed Mondays (tel. 373-8260). When you leave Elandan go up the hill on Hwy 3 and stop at Brother’s greenhouse on Sunnyslope Rd. You’ll be amazed at the variety, good quality and quantity of their plants. (Tel. 674-2558) Are you into rocks for your own garden? If so then drop by Morrison Gravel near Mullenix Rd to see some clever ways you can use them. (tel. 876-4701). Over on Sidney Rd the Yamamotos have planted fields with a plethora of seasonal plants and trees. (tel. 876-1889). If you like Japanese maples of every color check out Yang’s Nursery at the old Clover Valley golf course. (tel. 871-3555). Now you should consider driving a bit further. Head north to Bainbridge Island; just after you cross the Agate Pass bridge stop at Bloedel Reserve on Dolphin Rd. This reserve and gardens covers 150 acres, but you’ll not have to walk the whole thing to appreciate the spectacular grounds. It is by appointment to limit crowds (tel. 206 872-7631). Continue on the island and plan a stop at Bainbridge gardens where you’ll need an hour or two plus a good lunch at their cafe (tel. 206 842-5888). You can’t possibly get away without buying a plant or two! Leave the island and continue north toward Kingston and stop at Savage Nursery. I’ve found plants here that I couldn’t find other places (tel. 360 297-8711). Keep going north and visit Heronswood on the Hansville Road north from Country Corners. You can take a leisurely walk through a unique garden containing some very special plants, trees and shrubs collected by former owner Dan Hinkley. This was a world famous garden, and is worth an hour or two of your time (tel 360 297-4172).

If you are willing to cross the Hood Canal bridge for a longer drive then try Whitney Gardens at Brinnon on Hwy 101 near Quilcene. This is an old, gorgeous rhododendron and azalea garden, and the owners are famous NW hybridizers. Some of these rhodies are 75 years old – the famous parents of the new hybrids on the market today. Maybe you’ll see Golden Genie, which Gene (Brady) hybridized in 1980. visit this garden between late April and June for the best bloom. (tel. 360 796-4416, 800-952-2404). The tiny Brinnon Cafe has home made pies!

[Returning to Manchester] you can head south for more good gardens; Gig Harbor has Peninsula Gardens (253 851-8115) and Rosedale Gardens, both excellent. Cross the new bridge and take Gravelly Lk Blvd off I-t to Lakewold. This garden is right on the lake, and in summer has gorgeous old roses, but is pretty in late spring, too. It is home of the Blue Poppy. Lakewold and Bloedel Reserve are connected in an interesting way. Virginia Bloedel and Eulalia Wagner (owner of Lakewold) were sisters married to lumber barons, and both started their homes and gardens at the same time. They had a vigorous yet friendly competition in planting, and would try to out-do each other. Eulalia used to order her spring bulbs by the BOX CAR load. Continue toward Seattle and stop at the Rhododendron Species Garden at Hwy 18 exit on I-5, on Weyerhaeuser Way. This garden has over 10,000 individual rhodies and is one of the finest in the world Their spring sale is always a sell out (253 838-4646). This could go on because there are hundreds of great gardens yet to mention, but I will note just three more:

Kubota Garden, Renton Ave. S. and 55^th Ave. S. (206 684-4584): an old Japanese garden with spectacular trees.

Washington Park Arboretum, on Lake Washington near UW (206 543-8800); this is your State Arboretum, started in 1924, planned by the Olmstead Brothers. 200 acres, gift shop, Japanese Garden.

Center for Urban Horticulture, near UW and University Village (206 685-8033); Learning center and wonderful test gardens. Definitely worth a visit. Center contains the Elizabeth C. Miller Horticultural Library.

---by Norma Brady

The Art of Not Getting Published --thoughts from Bill Lounsbery

The difference between being a writer (which I am) and an author (which I’m not) is that the author is published. In fact, I think I’ve set a record for the number of rejections, which now number well over 100.

My first book centers around the officer-in-charge of a Swift boat in Vietnam. It’s autobiographical, so I wrote it with some confidence and thought it might fly. But white male adventure heroes have become as passé as the Vietnam conflict. My second book concerns a POW of the North Vietnamese who is sent to a 3-dimensional test range in the Bahamas to psychologically recuperate after his release in early 1973. Again, the book is somewhat autobiographical. And again, no takers.

I have in my possession many tomes cataloging the names and addresses of publishers and literary agents, as well as those advising me on how to write a “best seller”. You know the kind, cutesy “how to” books where its writer says something like: “And wasn’t I clever to do such-and-such.” None have helped me, but at least they’re making their authors a lot of money.

Most of my rejections are unsigned letters/cards that say – in a nice way – no. (That must be the motto of many agents: “Just say no.”) I do have some favorites: the hireling of one New York agent sent me an unsigned rejection card along with an ad for her employer’s book on how to write. I have the book and even incorporated some of its precepts, but obviously it’s done me little good. An agent in Portland sent a blank sheet of paper – which I didn’t take personally. Another in Florida sent a rejection for someone else’s book.

I often go into bookstores and peruse their wares, asking myself: “How can trash like this get printed and my novels not.” But I’m not bitter. I’m beginning book number three and have four other novels to write – all of them different, well written, and fascinating. (One of the first things you learn as a writer is to throw modesty out the door.) But I can’t think about them yet – or we have PROCRASTINATION.

My advice: keep plugging away, have a ball, and don’t get discouraged. I look at the publishing process much as I might the state lottery: someday I could win. For some reason I keep picturing the movie where Clint Eastwood, as Dirty Harry, asks a serial killer: “Do ya feel lucky, punk? Well, do ya?”