Friends of the Library | Sac State Library

Become a member. Be a volunteer. Enjoy seminars, events, and visiting with friends.

Charles Martell Author Lecture Series Lecture Archives Friends of the Library Membership Drive

Who are the Friends?

The Friends of the Library at Sacramento State was founded in 1992 to help the University Library meet the growing and changing needs of the campus and the community. Since its founding, the Friends of the Library has:

Donated over $250,000 to the University Library in grants for the acquisition of books, journals, electronic media, and equipment

Established the Book Bin, a permanent used book sales area on the Library’s lower level

Published the newsletter Bookends

Hosted special events and presentations by well-known authors

Become a Member

Join the Friends of the Library

Board Leadership

President Michaeline Veden
Vice President Eileen Heaser
Secretary Mary Andrews
Treasurer Sally Hitchcock

Bookends Editors

Linda Goff
Roz Van Auker

Board Members

Laura Archbold
Andrea Fiske
Linda J. Goff
Arthur Shattuck
Roz Van Auker

Ex-Officio

Amy Kautzman, Dean and Director, University Library
Steven Loya, Director of Planned Giving
Maria Ramirez, Event Coordinator and Communications Strategist, University Library

Our Mission

To support the University Library by:

Bringing together individuals and organizations interested in the University Library
Reaching out to the community and promoting the interests of the University Library
Providing a forum for the University and local authors, researchers, and readers to meet and discuss their work and interests
Raising funds to enhance the University Library

Benefits of Membership

Receipt of the Friends newsletter, Bookends

Invitations to library exhibits, lectures, and events

Library borrowing privileges for members at the Sponsor level ($50 and above)

The satisfaction of supporting education in our community

Complimentary parking for Speaker Series

Visit the Book Bin!

Staffed by members of the Friends who volunteer for a few hours per week, the Book Bin sells used copies of books and media in various formats. Proceeds from the Book Bin help fund the Friends annual grants program in support of library collections and services as well as general gifts to the University Library.

Fall 2025

Hours: 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM

September

Wednesday, 9/3
Thursday, 9/4
Wednesday, 9/17
Thursday, 9/18

October

Wednesday, 10/1
Thursday, 10/2
Wednesday, 10/15
Thursday, 10/16

November

Wednesday, 11/5
Thursday, 11/6
Wednesday, 11/19
Thursday, 11/20

December

Wednesday, 12/3
Thursday, 12/4

Donate to the Book Bin

Donations are accepted during regular Book Bin hours and by appointment on the last Friday of every month. Please call (916) 278-5954 to schedule an appointment

We Accept

Hardcover and paperback books for children, teens and adults
Contemporary and classic fiction
Popular nonfiction such as cookbooks, biographies, history
DVD movies
Audio books on CD
Music CDs

We Cannot Accept

Books in poor condition (stained, yellowed, moldy, torn)
Encyclopedias
Textbooks
Readers Digest condensed books
Outdated reference books
Books discarded by other libraries
Abridged audio books
Audio cassettes and VHS tapes

Donations can only be delivered during regular Book Bin hours or by appointment and may not be left outside the door or placed in our book drops. If you have more than two boxes of books, please call ahead to make sure we can accommodate the donation. Due to space constraints, we may need to decline donations.

Once accepted, donations are property of the Library and cannot be returned to the donor.

Charles Martell Author Lecture Series 2024/2025

Entering its 16th year, the lecture series offers the campus and Sacramento communities the opportunity to engage with authors whose work is timely and thought provoking. All lectures are free to the public and everyone is welcome to join us.

Don’t miss this opportunity to engage with authors and creators shaping some of today’s most important conversations!

For more information or to request reasonable accommodations, please contact Maria Ramirez at lib-events@csus.edu at least ten (10) business days in advance of the event.

Jonathan D. Cohen

Thursday, October 30, 2025

The rise of online sports gambling—the immediacy of betting with your phone, the ability of the companies to target users, the dynamic pricing and offers based on how good or bad of a gambler you are—has produced a public health crisis marked by addiction and far too many people, particularly young men, gambling more than they can afford to lose.

Losing Big lays out the astonishing emergence of online sports gambling, from sportsbook executives drafting legislation to an addicted gambler confessing their $300,000 losses. Sports gambling is here to stay, and the stakes could not be higher. Losing Big explains how this brewing crisis came to be, and how it can be addressed before new generations get hooked.

Evelyn McDonnell

Thursday, November 13, 2025

An intimate exploration of the life, craft, and legacy of one of the most revered and influential writers, an artist who continues to inspire fans and creatives to cultivate practices of deep attention, rigorous interrogation and beautiful style.

An antidote to a global view that narrows our vision to the smallest screens, The World According to Joan Didion is a meditation on the people, places, and objects that propelled Didion’s prose and an invitation to journalists, storytellers, and life adventurers to “throw themselves into the convulsions of the world,” as she once said.

Sasha Abramsky

Thursday, March 12, 2026

A harrowing tale of how political polarization threatens America’s social fabric, told through the differing fates of two communities riven by ideological and partisan battles. By illuminating how national political polarization has seeped into local affairs, Chaos Comes Calling vividly captures how extremism has transformed the country’s politics and continues to upend life at every level. Abramsky’s reporting provides a sobering preview of America’s future if extremism is not reined in.

Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck

Thursday, April 16, 2026

The 2025/2026 Charles Martell Author Lecture Series ends with an in-person presentation with director and Sacramento State faculty, Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck. Join the Friends and Prof. Ojeda-Beck as they discuss his documentary short, The Long Valley.

This event will be held in the University Library and will include a reception after the Q+A. Free parking is also available, upon request.