Don’t Cross Your Friends of the Library Group

Dateline Dana Point, CA:

Secret meetings. Unexplained firings. Legal action threatened. It’s not exactly what anyone would expect from the Dana Point Friends of the Library, but a group of women from the nonprofit say the current president Terrence Inouye ousted them as managers of the bookstore without explanation, alienated members and demoralized 80-year-old volunteers.

“We all love the bookstore and that is what makes this all distressing,” said Rachel Brezinski, a bookstore manager forced to resign in March. “To be treated like this has upset all of us elderly ladies.”

From Monday through Saturday bookstore volunteers and managers roll out carts of discounted used books and collect the proceeds for the Friends of the Library. Customers can stop by from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. to browse and purchase tomes to take home.

But bookstore volunteer Jayne Boydston estimated that 25 volunteers and managers — or about one-third of the membership — have either resigned in protest or been pushed out altogether.