Guild Library

by Jane Jackter

Text Box:           The Guild Library started with a few dozen books for members' use in the hallway of St. Michaels and All Angels parish rectory. That was half a century ago, when the Guild House was the rectory, and the Guild was the parish women's association. (It became an A.C. in l974 for tax purposes.)   The parish owns the property, which is held by a corporation to comply with Mexican law vis a vis ownership of property by churches. Fortunately, as the book collection grew and threatened to overflow its allotted space, the house next door became available. The church bought it as the "new" rectory and turned the original house over to the Guild in exchange for maintaining the property and paying taxes and the caretaker's salary.
       That's when the Guild opened the consignment shop and began to hold fund-raising events and monthly rummage sales in the garden to support its four decades of donations to five local charities. The library soon expanded to fill the sala and enclosed terrace, while the shop and larder filled up the bedrooms.
    The library uses its income from membership fees and the sale of donated used books to buy new books and a monthly contribution to the Guild treasury, to help with maintenance expenses. It is part of the Guild, not a separate entity.
     When the parish decided to sell the Guild House last year, we faced a difficult search for affordable new quarters that were spacious enough to house the library, shop and larder.

Text Box:   The Diocesan Center, after some renovation and construction, fulfills most of our requirements of a good location, good street parking, and garden space for events.
    The library always has been staffed by volunteers, but in the 1980s the Guild hired an employee and assistant to run the shop and larder. In our new location, the shop will be a volunteer effort, too. At least a dozen volunteers are needed for the shop, and the library will need some new volunteers as well.
     If you have a morning or a couple of afternoon hours a week to devote to either the shop or library, please call our new number, 316-7049, Juanita Saucedo, 315-4402, or Jane Jackter, 316-2682. Men as well as women are welcome as library volunteers.