NAME:
Laurie Brant
SCHOOL:
Holy Family School
CLASS:
Library
SCHOOL PHONE:
408-978-1355
Laurie Brant is a San Jose native. She grew up near Branham High School.
She was married at Queen of Apostles Church in 1987 and came to Holy Family
Parish in 1992. Laurie has three daughters all who have attended Holy
Family School, Michaela who graduated in 2003, Sarah who graduated in 2005
and Amy who graduated in 2007. Laurie has many interests including
reading, gardening and traveling.
Laurie became the librarian quite by accident. At a PTG meeting in 1995 a
call was put out to help in our little school library. The library at that
time had just moved from the Sacristy to South 3 in the Community Center.
The room had 3 free standing book cases and doubled as a meeting
room/storage closet. Books were not arranged by age and there was no formal
cataloguing system. At the time, our collection was approximately 2,000
books most were dated before 1960. Slowly a group of parents began working
in the library until it finally took shape. Carpets were cleaned, the room
was painted, blinds were purchased, computers were donated, books were
organized, the school set a budget amount and most importantly an automative
system was purchased. We weeded out the most outdated and worn books which
brought the collection down to approximately 1,000 books.
By 1996 we were ready to open the library doors to classrooms. At that
time, most of the volunteers had moved on to other jobs and Laurie was one
of two still remaining. She ran the library full-time as a volunteer until
she was hired on part-time in 1997. The collection with the help of
donations, school budget line and most importantly the Birthday Book Program
increased the collection to 8,500 books.
By 2002 we had outgrown South 3 and were actively looking for ways to expand
the library. In 2003, the Capital Campaign took place to build a brand new
wing of the school and the library would be included in those plans. In
2004, we moved into our brand new location at the back of the school. The
new room accommodates a collection of 10,000 books, videos,
parent resource section, books on tape and other resource materials.
The library is a welcoming place to come. Laurie welcomes all students to
come during their lunch hour. They can read, check out books, play games,
talk, or do volunteer work in the library.
Volunteers are always welcome. Please contact Laurie at
laurie.brant@hfsj.org if you have any questions or would like to help out in
the library.