Holly Barrera, who has volunteered at the Ceres Library for many years, has been awarded a 2022 Shining Star Award by the Stanislaus Library Foundation.

Established in 2004, the annual awards honor individuals, businesses, organizations and Friends of the Library members for supporting the library through volunteer efforts, advocacy or financial contributions.

Barrera is always a ready help at the Ceres Library. She gathers books that have been reserved by customers, and pulls books from the reserved shelf when the hold period has expired, so they may be ready for the next customer. Holly also cleans books when they are returned and replaces plastic book covers to help extend the life of the book collection.

Other award recipients included Brooks Judd, a volunteer with the Friends of the Turlock Library.

The Foundation also gave honors to LearningQuest – Stanislaus Literacy Centers. LearningQuest has had a formal partnership with the library since 2001, operating an office inside the Modesto Library, where volunteer tutors help adult learners improve their reading and writing skills. Under the leadership of Executive Director Karen Williams, the agency has grown from a staff of three to more than 30 employees. In 2019, the organization launched KidsQuest, a volunteer tutoring program for kids with dyslexia. The strength of the partnership and the program’s success has positioned the library to receive a sizeable literacy grant from the California State Library.

The public is invited to view a video that recognizes the Library Foundation’s Shining Star and Joan Patterson Stellar Achievement Awardees at bit.ly/2022-star-video.