Silver Tea toasts Rancho Santa Fe Library Guild

Photos and story By Karen Billing

The Rancho Santa Fe Library Guild celebrated its most consistent and generous library benefactors on Feb. 6 at its Donor Recognition Silver Tea. Attendees sipped tea and enjoyed treats like sandwiches, desserts and Valentine candy hearts.

The Guild had one of its most successful fundraising years in a long time, said Susan Appleby, membership and development chair.

One of the largest donations came from the family of Nan Werner, a longtime volunteer who recently passed away. Werner was a Guild president and treasurer, and for more than 25 years dedicated herself as a volunteer to the library and Book Cellar.

The gift will be used for landscaping and benches in the new Nan and Charles Werner Patio and Garden at the library entrance.

“It will really set the front of the library up as a place where people can gather and visit,” said Susan Stone Hayes, the Guild’s ways and means chair.

As she poured tea, Stone Hayes reflected on her years with the Guild. When she moved to Rancho Santa Fe 30 years ago, they were redoing the Book Cellar. She volunteered to help. “Here I am, 30 years later, still on the board,” she said.

The rest of the Werner gift established the Nan and Charles Werner Fund to support Guild personnel. The Guild has several funds named for members, such as the Ellie Johns Scholarship for communications majors, and the Virginia Dewey Memorial Fund for the future of Guild collections at the library.

Stone Hayes said Dewey was a “fabulous friend” with whom she served on the book-buying committee. Stone Hayes brought in purple heather to decorate the tea tables in memory of her friend, who loved all things Scottish.

Visit rsflibraryguild.org.