Robin Olivier: A Friend to Reading
Every Saturday, Robin Olivier volunteers a portion of her time to help run the Friends of the Castro Valley Library, the small bookstore near the Chabot and Canyon Room. Preparing for the book sale happening next month is a lot of preparation.
“I’ve always been a reader,” said Olivier. “Reading was something I did from early childhood. I went through phases, liking stories of historical people and different jobs. Later, I escaped work stress by reading mysteries and gothic novels after work.”
Olivier has been a long-time Castro Valley resident. She has been involved with the library since they moved from Redwood Road and helped with the “Great Castro Valley Book Pass.” When the current Castro Valley Library opened to the public on Oct. 31, 2009, nearly 2,000 people participated in this event, creating a human chain to pass books from the old library to the new one.
“We moved a couple of hundred books from the old library to this one, and people were walking on the street. We literally passed them,” she said. It was so much fun.”
Being a dedicated volunteer since 2011, Olivier became the President of the Friends of the Castro Valley Library, overseeing the board meetings, planning book sales, helping draft newsletters, and getting people to donate to the bookstore. She is in the first year of her two-year term.
The Friends of the Castro Valley Library is a volunteer-run and non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that supports the Castro Valley Library by helping provide funds for library services such as the Castro Valley Reads and children’s programs. As well as advocating for local and national public support for libraries and helping increase literacy. Book donations help the bookstore support the library by selling almost new or used books, audiobooks, CDs, and DVDs.
“That’s, of course, our mission. Most of the children’s activities that happen here at the library we have paid for. We paid for the books for the Castro Valley Reads so that all the 300 books that we’ve given out, we bought those and then sponsored the activities that go along with them,” said Oliver.
Donating items such as paperback and hardback books, audiovisual materials, and magazines that are in good condition is accepted at the Friends of the Library when they are open. Donations will not be accepted in the last 30 minutes before the bookstore closes.
Prior to volunteering at the Castro Valley Library, Olivier had been a long-time educator in Castro Valley. Raised in Merced and graduating from UC Berkeley, she was hired as a student teacher at the former Parsons Elementary School in 1966. Working there for 13 years, she would eventually become principal at Stanton, Castro Valley, Palomares, and Independent Elementary Schools.
Retiring in 1999, Olivier still wanted to be involved with education. Before the pandemic, Olivier dedicated part of her time to tutoring first-graders at Proctor Elementary, learning to read.
The Friends of the Castro Valley Library will hold their Spring Book Sale on May 5 to 7. For more information, please visit https://www.friendsofcvlibrary.org/ or call (510) 733-3285.