June 4, 2020

Contributed by Gloria Anderson, Image from Bill Pumford Collection
Title: Friends of the Crestline Library: The Crestline Friends of the Library is a registered 501c3 non-profit group that volunteers their time and diligently works to raise funding to provide more resources for the Crestline Branch Library. The first meeting of the Friends of the Crestline Library was held on February 29, 1974, when the library was on Crest Forest Drive across from Linder’s Tires. It was a 300 square-foot space – much different from the grand lakeside structure that is the current Crestline Library. Attending were Gloria Anderson and Lillian Pascoe and the branch librarian, Veronica (Ronnie) Deasy. The first officers were Ronnie Deasy, interim president; Nancy Brown, secretary; and Madelyne Johnston, treasurer. Gloria Anderson did the newsletter and Madelyne was the telephoner. The book discussion group and the oral history project were both launched in late 1974. The oral histories can be found in the Mountain Museum’s collections. The library moved three times between 1974 and 1986. The first move was to Lake Drive, where the Western Auto store was. The next move in 1979 was to the Forest Shade location next to the tennis courts. Then in 1986, the library moved to the former post office site on Knapp’s Cutoff, which is this week’s real postcard image. Activities in the early years included book sales and Fourth of July parades. The first book sale in 1975 made $100. The most successful sale was in 1987, when the Friends made almost $800. The first Fourth of July parade participated in by the Friends was in 1976 for the Bicentennial. The Friends’ float consisted of a large Uncle Sam’s hat carried on a flatbed truck, surrounded by children in small hats and women wearing long dresses, aprons and bonnets. In 1977 children, dressed as their favorite storybook characters, marched the entire length of the parade, led by Veronica Deasy, our energetic librarian.