Cookbook Project History

When we decided to create a library volunteer cookbook and publish it online, the first thing we did was try to establish the level of interest in such a project among the members of our community. We sent out a letter and a questionnaire to our volunteers asking them to indicate their willingness to participate in various tasks. At the same time, we solicited donations of cookware to equip our new warehouse kitchen where we intended to test recipes, and of course, we asked people to send us their favorite recipes. 

We created a recipe worksheet for our volunteers, as well as a questionnaire. We weren't disappointed in the response we got. We realized right away that many people wanted to be a part of our food-related endeavor. The variety of recipes we received was surprising. Volunteers and staff provided us with family favorites as well as recipes photocopies from well-loved cookbooks. The response to our questionnaire regarding tasks that might interest participants was also gratifying. A lot of people expressed their love of cooking or mentioned catering, restaurant or other kinds of food service experience.

We organized the information we received; we filed recipes by type and made lists of names, putting them in categories according to interests. The response we'd received clearly justified continuing with the project. So after having established interest in creating a community cookbook, we sent out an email asking people who had given us recipes to join us for a meeting to form committees to move the project forward.

In some ways, inviting input from a large number of people was a step backward. It wasn't easy to cope with the outpouring of their ideas, many of which naturally conflicted with what we already had in mind. There was a lot of discussion of concepts we had already discarded, and as is often the case, people volunteered to do things we suspected were not suited to their particular talents. 

There were a couple of would-be participants who loudly expressed doubts about our capacity to manage the project.

In spite of the confusion engendered by attempting to deal with a roomful of eager volunteers, we pressed on. We sent out a report on the first Cookbook Committee meeting, which was a plea for more recipes. It included some suggestions people had made about the kinds of things they would like to see in a cookbook. We were more specific than we previously had been about what we were seeking.

We began contacting people individually. We asked volunteers we knew who were enthusiastic cooks to participate in demonstrating and serving their recipes at lunchtime in the warehouse. We envisioned a happy period of testing and tasting. 

We wanted the project to ease the transition we were making from a small workspace where we processed book donations to a larger warehouse space. Many volunteers had expressed doubts about working in an unfamiliar part of San Francisco. We hoped to ease fears and build camaraderie by gathering people around the act of preparing food and eating together.

We intended the heart and soul of the cookbook to be the testing of recipes during the volunteers' workdays. Individual volunteers brought in ingredients and prepared dishes to be tasted during the lunch hour. The participants either absorbed the cost of the food they prepared or they were reimbursed out of a collection we took up at every meal. Some of the recipes we tried were better than others, but all of the dishes were enthusiastically received. 

Because of the number of recipes we wanted to include, it wasn't practical to test every offering in the warehouse kitchen. Later we distributed recipes to individuals for testing at home. We devised a system for rating recipes and we created another, more specific worksheet to encourage the use of exact measurements. 

Our goal was to offer recipes that people would enjoy making, enjoy eating, and just appreciate knowing they were sourced from the great volunteers of the Friends of the SFPL.

We offer a very special THANK YOU to the following contributors:

Tricia Allen

Meredith Ash

Elizabeth Benford

Barbara Berman
Judy Bernhard

Judith Blanchard

Sally Bland
Andrea Blum

Margot Breier

Jean Chaitin

Ted Craig

Marie Dern
Jeffrey Dowling

Antonio Echevarria

Jean Espey

Nancy Favese

Veronica Fields

Mollie Fleming
Sue Free

Anne Grawemeyer

Eleanor Gerhardt

Kerry Gilfillan

Kate Hanson

Terry Harrigan

Linda Jackson
Hafez Janssens

Nancy Johnsen

Ruth Kamena

Janet Kane

Carol Kare

Adena Kershner

Michele Kiyota

Pamela Koe

Richard Ledon

Ken Leeser

Christine Leishman

Denice Leong

Gail Levine

Karen Mack

Joan Manning

Abby Margolis

Carolene Marks

Nancy Miller

Jean Millman

Suresh Mirchard

Elaine Molinari

Mimi Mueller

Hande Nigdelioglu

Claire Orlando

Miriam Pavis

Candace Poskey

Eyra Reyes

Leah Scampoli

Bob Schultz

Elise Seri

Veronica Tsarkova

Carol Weinfeld
Kim Wells

Linda Werner

Priscilla Williams

Liz Winters

Anastasia Yovanopoulos 
Nancy Zinn