About Us

Julie Cooke

I am honored to have the opportunity to celebrate the wonder of Julie with you.

Julie was, quite simply, RIFSoCal’s heart.  Her undauntable spirit was the best RIFSoCal had to offer.

Our spirit has dimmed with Julie’s loss, but as she would expect – it will continue to shine as we work to bring the books Julie loved to order, unpack and place on the shelves, to children all over Greater Los Angeles who go home every day to rooms with no books.

Julie will always be in our hearts – every time we open a box of especially wonderful books we will hear her exclamations of delight and pleasure – and every time we grow to inspire more Readers for Tomorrow we will feel her happiness and satisfaction.

The world is a better place because of Julie’s passion, love and dedication and she will be sorely missed. 
~Carol Henault, Executive Director of RIFSoCal

BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2010-2011

Officers:

Christopher E. Ranieri – President
Director, Corporate Benefits Planning
Jacobs Engineering Group Inc.

Tricia Nelson - Secretary
Editorial Consultant

Lone Sorensen - Treasurer
Halferty Development Company, LLC
VP Controller

Rita Henderson - V.P. Book Program
Manager, Community Affairs & Education Programs
Nestlé

Directors:

Brenda Gottfried
Board Member (retired) Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District

Jerlene Hales
Retired School Administrator

Shae Jordan
Child Life Specialist
Former Director of Disney Studios International Worldwide Services

Brian K. Loo
ESI Enterprises, Inc.
Vice President Strategy, Finance and M&A

Bertha Rucal
Director, Marketing & Public Relations
Liberty Tax Service

Alva Sachs
Children’s Book Author
Three Wishes Publishing Company

Daniel P. Sheehy
Founder
Freelanthropy, LLC
_______________________________

Phyllis Shlecter – Chair Emeritus (ex officio)
Educator (retired)
New York City school system
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Carol K. Henault (ex officio)
Executive Director
Reading Is Fundamental of Southern California

 

 

Buggies and Bikes!

FUN – and extraordinary CREATIVITY – shaped the RIFSoCal we know and love today!

It’s 1970 in Santa Fe Springs Park.  Imagine children running off to have fun - and finding Mother Goose playing her harp on the lawn!  Then imagine the children’s delight when Mother Goose gathered them into a circle, read them a story and encouraged them to choose a wonderful new book to keep as their very own.  “Books in the Park” was the creation of Santa Fe Springs Librarian, Ruth Grams – alias Mother Goose – one of RIFSoCal’s founders.

August 1972 brought “Books on Bikes.”  Boy Scouts from troop 976 rode bikes to 4 city parks and 2 city street sites just to give books away to children!  Strapped to their backs were Pony Express style bags decorated with “Bike it—You’ll Like It!” and filled with 25 personally selected books to encourage children to return to the same location each week to choose a new book or exchange the one that they had chosen the previous week.

1975 featured “The Book Buggy!” 

  Visualize an old, black baby buggy decorated with crepe paper fringe and filled with magical, engaging children’s books.This “concerted effort to get youngsters into books and books into the hands of youngsters” was part of “America in Books for Children and Young People” co-sponsored by RIFSoCal and the California Museum of Science and Industry.

To this very day, RIFSoCal “Inspires Readers for Tomorrow,” creating magic by bringing books and children together. Let’s keep the FUN alive!