For a Good Cause -- LARRY SPITZ

* Story by Paul Clinton; photo by Steve McCrank

Books have always been a part of Larry Spitz’s life.

Part of it when he studied English literature at Northwestern

University during World War II. Part of it again when he began

volunteering a few years ago to help raise money for the Newport Beach

Public Library.

Spitz spends a good chunk of his week beating the bushes around town

to gather donations of both cash and used books.

He doesn’t do it alone. He works with staff of the library, members of

the Newport Beach Public Library Foundation and members of the Friends of

the Library.

“We do everything we can to assist the library to acquire materials

and to provide services,” Spitz said. “My feeling is that the library is,

next to public safety, the single most important service a city can

provide.”

Most notably, Spitz is president of the 15-member foundation, which

has raised $1.38 million for the library since its inception in 1994.

In that role, he oversees efforts to increase donation levels. As a

member of the Friends, Spitz oversees the library’s bookstore, which

sells used books to raise funds.

Annual receipts from those sales total about $60,000, Spitz said. The

biggest challenge for Spitz in that arena is finding donors of used

books.

“Please bring down your box loads of used books,” Spitz said.

The city funds the library with about $4.5 million a year, but that

usually isn’t enough to hire staff, operate the facilities and acquire

new materials.

“We still don’t have enough materials and provide enough services,”

Spitz said.

The library’s four branches, including the Central Library at 1000

Avocado Ave., serve the city’s 70,000 or so residents, as well as many

visitors from the outlying cities, Spitz said.

A fifth branch is planned for Newport Coast once the city annexes the

unincorporated area early next year.

Spitz, 77, retired from the apparel business five years ago. After

selling a small importer business he had founded, Spitz volunteered at

Hoag Hospital. But his love of books and reading drew him to the library

a few years ago.