Library

HOME

QUESTIONS

"...Feed yourself spiritually on the words of faith and the true teaching which you have followed."

I Timothy 4:6

Library Hours Sundays: 9 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Other days: Pick up door key in church office.

Sara Rawl Memorial

Library

Illuminated manuscript page from the Belles Heures of Jean, Duke of Berry,

France, active ca. 1400-16, Tempera and gold on vellum,
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York .

Filled with books, periodicals, and videos, the Sara Rawl Memorial

Library is an inviting place to browse and check out books, magazines,

and information about The United Methodist Church. Special book

collections are available for those interested in United Methodist

Women, Commission on the Status and Role of Women, and

Commission on Religion and Race. Bulletin board displays keep you

informed of new books and gift books. Gift books are those books

donated by a church member in honor of someone special or in

memory of a deceased loved one. A label inside the book cover gives

the name of the honored or memorialized person.

Book check out is as simple as 1, 2, 3

1. Sign the book card, First and Last Name

2. Date stamp the card, Three weeks ahead.

3. Put card in file box.

To be a Sara Rawl Memorial Library volunteer, see Library Committee Chair Valorie Hafner.

Who was Sara Rawl?

The church library is named in memory of Sara Rawl, the first Children’s Director at Los Altos United Methodist Church.

When Sara and her husband joined the church in 1955, church membership was growing rapidly with a large number of children attending Sunday School. Senior Minister Dr. Ray Firth needed someone to take charge of Christian Education. He named Sara Rawl. Sara was responsible for recruiting teachers, substitute teachers, counseling teachers, and a superintendent for each of the three Sunday School sessions. Her volunteers testified that the welfare of the children was always important to Sara.

To better prepare herself for her Christian Education responsibilities, Sara attended classes part-time at Claremont School of Theology, Claremont, California. She developed innovative programs at Los Altos United Methodist Church such as the Christmas Workshop, still held each December. She started plans for a week-day preschool, which became a reality in 1967. Today, the Los Altos United Methodist Church Preschool is a model for all preschools in Long Beach. Her last project, as she struggled with cancer, was to start a library. She wanted to fulfill her long-held dream for a church library.

Upon Sara’s death in 1967, church members established a memorial fund, which was used to expand the church library. On October 31, 1993, the church library was dedicated as The Sara Rawl Memorial Library of Los Altos United Methodist Church.