Friends of the Salinas Public Library (FOSPL) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, public-benefit organization of volunteers providing financial contributions to the Salinas Public Library.  FOSPL funds programs and purchases not within or to supplement the Library budget, such as summer reading prizes and special equipment such as the microfilm reader at John Steinbeck Library.  FOSPL also works to create public awareness of and community support for the Library system and its programs. 

Membership 

Being a member of FOSPL means that you help to support, promote, and advocate on behalf of the Library. Find out more about membership and please consider being a Friend!

Bookstore

Visit the Friends’ Bookshop for books, movies, and other interesting nonfiction, history and “coffee table” books. Bookshop is located at John Steinbeck Library and is open Monday through Thursday. The bookshop is open from 1:00pm to 4:00pm during fall hours (November to March) and from 2:00pm to 5:00pm during spring hours (March to November).
Material donations are accepted for resale at the Friends Bookshop. Please refer to FOSPL’s donation acceptance guidelines for more information.

Big Book Sales

You won't want to miss FOSPL's Big Book Sales!  Get thousands of books and DVDS at fractions of its cost and load up on the $5 Bag O'Books specials!

All sales are located at the Book Depot at 7 Station Place in the Salinas Train Station. Sales typically run from 9:00am to 2:00pm on the first Saturday of every other month. See the FOSPL website here for the exact schedule.

Fundraising 

FOSPL and its members are an active participant in raising funds to support various services and programs at the library. They participated annually to raise funds through Monterey County Gives campaign platform, which have provided opportunities for the library to start the SMA+RT virtual card program (2018), equipment for El Gabilan Library's makerspace (2019), hotspot lending service (2020), and BABY program (2021 & 2022). FOSPL also applied for various grants on behalf of the library such as the grant funding for the Kinder Boot Camp program that is funded by the Pebble Beach Company Foundation.
In 2020, FOSPL started its first annual fundraising with a 'Sip & Paint' theme. Stay tuned for the announcement of the next Sip & Paint event date!