Share your story

  • "I believe libraries help Hayward thrive"
  • "I believe in lifelong learning for people of all ages"
  • "I want to give back to my community"

Why are you a Friend of Hayward Library? Sharing your personal story is a powerful way to show your support. Even a sentence or two makes a world of difference.

Please take a moment to share your story here:

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151 stories

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Showing 165 stories

  • Virginia Sapiga
    shared 2018-02-04 07:00:40 -0800
    I’m a friend of Hayward Library because it’s important to have a place of learning, a place for information and so much more for everyone young and old alike, even this Library that is state of the art! How exciting to have this, a center of community for all of us.
  • Diane Laine
    shared 2018-01-29 18:08:37 -0800
    It is very important to Hayward citizens to have a library that is state of the art.
  • Amanda Paz
    shared 2018-01-28 17:42:56 -0800
    Hi, i would say something about the library. The library is the best place to be. When i was little i would always go for story time and for reading. It has all my memories of when i would go there. It is so nice there. You read, you can check out books and check out movies. i still love to read and love to watch movies. and i really love to listen to books. one of my favorite books i like to listen to is called Double Fudge. It still makes me laugh. Thank you so much.
  • Bob Simoni
    shared 2018-01-26 11:19:30 -0800
    My fondest memories of my father are when he would take us as young kids to the local library so we could borrow books to take home and read. We would amuse ourselves during the summer breaks by joining the library club and reading books and writing book reports.
  • Iris Murillo
    posted about this on Facebook 2018-01-24 16:19:22 -0800
    I just shared my story, "Why I'm a Friend of the Library" on the Haywardfriends.org website. Check it out!
  • Iris Murillo
    shared 2018-01-24 16:18:20 -0800
    My son and I frequently visit the Hayward Library. It’s delightful to see the smile on his face when I say it’s time to drop off our books and get new ones to read. He loves spending time on the computer in the children’s area. He’d spend the entire day there if possible. I’m deeply grateful for the our community library, its programs and its amazing staff. It was wonderful to see our city rally around the library and make it possible to build a new one with even more books, programs, spaces and opportunities for growth. I can’t wait to walk in the front doors of the new building.
  • Lynne Clifton
    shared 2018-01-22 15:54:25 -0800
    I’m a Friend of the Library because I like the idea of giving old books a new life and because nothing gives me more faith in the future than seeing a young reader choose a new book
  • Marie Cartusciello
    shared 2018-01-18 14:11:34 -0800
    I moved to Hayward from New York in 1991, and one of the first places that I found here was the library. I have often gravitated towards libraries, and I was so happy to find a pleasant, comfortable, and well-stocked library in the middle of downtown Hayward. I have been a frequent visitor there ever since. During my years as a teacher, the library provided a wealth of books and videos that I was able to use to enhance my curriculum. I also borrowed many books for my own reading pleasure over those years, and now that I am retired, I have joined one of the library’s book clubs. I donate to the Friends of Hayward Library because they provide the necessary support that makes our library an interesting and welcoming place for our community. How fortunate we are to have such a vital place for learning and building community in the heart of our city.
  • Francisco Zermeño
    shared 2018-01-17 17:52:20 -0800
    I’d rather be reading a bad book – oxymoron? – than be reading no book at all, And that pleasure is made possible by all my Friends in and out of our Library!

    Happy book day!
  • Karen Cauble
    shared 2018-01-17 16:01:13 -0800
    I appreciate everything library staff members do for the Hayward community. They create welcoming environments and great programs for kids and adults that enhance and expand our awareness of the world around us, past and present, which can also lead to promises for the future.
  • Judy Harrison
    shared 2018-01-15 13:02:28 -0800
    The Friends of the Library has been my passion for years. It is the perfect grass roots organization that believes in what I believe: to be an active participant in our community and make things happen for the good. Watching our new library rise before my eyes is a dream come true! I am so proud to be part of an organization that is bringing such positive change to our city. I am looking forward to many years of the Friends and the library’s positive contributions to the community.
  • Bill Quirk
    shared 2018-01-15 12:22:46 -0800
    The Friends of the Library and the Hayward Library Commission was my entrance into understanding the City of Hayward government and budget. As a member of both groups, I found out that the Library was the City Institution that served more people than any other. The Friends and .the Commission helped educate the City Council on the importance of the Library to the people of Hayward. The Friends also supplied the Library with important resources like computers and the Teen Area at the Weekes Branch Library. The Friends and Commission were key to the campaign for a new Library. I am very proud of my years as a member and one time President of the Friends.
  • Lynn Roberts
    shared 2018-01-15 11:18:35 -0800
    Books! Books! Books! I read all the time – cereal boxes,notices on busses and BART, everything. But books are my favorites.and the library is where I go for books. Of course I buy books sometimes ebooks or the paper kind, but the library’s are my favorites. I just love the vibe there.There are people of all kinds and ages working at the computers, reading at the tables, loving what I love. The staff is warm and welcoming and always helpful. When I volunteered to help kids with their homework, it was my joy to be there a couple of days a week. I’m there less often now, but look forward to those days knowing I will spend a bit of time at our Hayward Public Library..
  • Myra Feiger
    shared 2018-01-14 09:36:21 -0800
    Wherever I’ve ever lived the public libraries have always made me feel that I was home. After moving to Hayward twenty years ago and joining Friends of Hayward Library, I became even more connected to my community. Being a Friend of Hayward Library truly made me feel that Hayward is my home.
  • Sean Reinhart
    shared 2018-01-13 20:35:35 -0800
    The Friends of Hayward Library are, in my view, the best Friends organization in the world. As Hayward’s 21st Century Library rises on the corner of C Street and Mission Boulevard before our eyes, I recall the many thousands of hours of effort they put in to make this incredible dream come true — raising the necessary funds, rallying volunteers, meeting with lawmakers, telling the story door-to-door — and they did it as a small but mighty, all-volunteer, grass roots organization based right here in Hayward. The new library would not be happening without the phenomenal work of the Friends of Hayward Library. They are true champions!