Oregon’s World War II Shipyards
Dear Friends,
You’re invited to this special event on Wednesday evening at the library. Learn the untold story of NW Oregon and SW Washington’s WWII shipyards on the Columbia River. Peter will interweave the history of the three shipyards with tales of Astoria’s role in the war.
The Library Friends will hold a special pop-up bookshop of WWII and nautical books following the presentation.
We hope to see you there.
Renowned chef Andy Catalano will demonstrate how to make tagliatelle alla Bolognese
Dear Friends of the Astoria Library,
You're invited! This Wednesday, May 20, at 5:30p.m. the library will present renowned chef Andy Catalano demonstrating how to make tagliatelle alla Bolognese using items that can be borrowed from our new Library of Things. Learn how to use an induction burner plus KitchenAid stand mixer and three attachments: meat grinder, shredder, and pasta roller. Bring a friend and come early to peruse the ALFA Bookshop's cookbook and gardening collection. Stay late to enjoy a taste of Andy's creation. We hope to see you there.
Sincerely,
Pat Thomas
Patsy Oser
Miki Frace
Gina Mattioda
Dave Ambrose
The ALFA Board
The Astoria Library Friends Association will open a new bookstore within the library
The Astoria Public Library went through a major renovation that culminated this fall.
Published in the Discover Our Coast Magazine on 6:08 am Thursday, April 2, 2026
By Heather Douglas
Library aficionado and former teacher Patsy Oser loves to spread the joy of reading. For eight years, she read books to students at Astor Elementary School starting in 2012 twice a week. “I read over 1500 stories and used my own books. I beat the gym teacher in popularity,” she joked.
Oser is Vice Chair of the Astoria Library Friends Association (ALFA), a group supporting library programs and projects of the Astoria Public Library since 1982. The group’s new bookstore will open to the public 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday April 4 at the Astoria Public Library, 450 10th St. For updates and information as the bookstore evolves, visit: astorialibraryfriends.org.
Oser, who moved to Astoria from Chicago in 2011, had the idea of creating a book store within the newly renovated library from a library in Wilmette, Illinois that sold used books in the basement generating thousands of dollars of revenue each year to help support their library programs. Oser liked the idea. “Why can’t we do that in Astoria,” she said.
Starting out, the new bookstore will sell used books, but there may be more offerings in the future. Pat Thomas, Chair of ALFA, is pleased with the idea and how it supports the mission of ALFA. “Our main job is to support the library programs where the city budget doesn’t. By selling our books if we have a special project, this will provide extra money to do that,” she said.
Thomas added that people who love libraries look for places to donate and buy used books. In turn, the sales help fund library programs. “This is a great way for us to raise money for library programs and events. Whatever we can do to raise money — used books are a great way to do that.”
ALFA Opens Bookshop
Published in the Daily Astorian 6:58 pm Thursday, April 2, 2026
“You want more programs?” asked Patsy Oser, the vice president of the Astor Library Friends Association. “Buy some books.”
After hundreds of hours of planning and Dewey Decimal System organizing, ALFA officially opens its bookshop in the public library on Saturday. The store will only be open on Saturdays from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. until more volunteers are recruited.
Customers are encouraged to pay with cash but can pay with a card for a small fee. All proceeds will directly support library projects like the 10th Street Stage summer concert series, the Library of Things and supplying resources for young readers.
ALFA’s bookshop committee, aka the three musketeers, is comprised of Miki Frace, Gina Mattioda and Oser. Oser proposed the idea a few years ago. She was inspired by a downstairs bookstore in a Chicago library. Oser lived in Chicago prior to moving to Astoria.
“This is a happy place run by three happy people,” Oser said.
Astoria’s new library bookshop seemingly has every genre, including a substantial collection of picture books. M of the picture books are like new, and sell for as little as $1 each. The goal, according to Frace, is to keep prices low so more kids can buy books.
“Picture books are the biggie, because they’re ‘lap books,’” said Frace. “That’s where you learn to love reading because you’re sitting on somebody’s lap who loves you, who’s reading to you.”
“It’s the safest place on the planet,” Oser added. “You learn to associate books with comfort and security.”
In addition to children’s books, the bookshop will sell used hardbacks for $3 each or two for $5 — and paperbacks for $2 each.
“Top-shelf” items, what the shopkeepers call “treasures,” are priced a bit higher, up to $15 per book.
“My thrill is, from 1 to 5, you learn to read. From then on, you read to learn,” said Mattioda. During what she calls “these harsh times,” Mattioda said it is important for people to read and develop their beliefs on their own. “The bookshop is a slice of that.”
With several hundred books, the bookshop has no shortage of reading material, from Jane Austen, to coffee table books, to nautical diaries and even young adult options. Not to mention, books on local Astoria history.
On Tuesday night, ALFA members got a sneak peek and had the opportunity to purchase items in the bookshop and its unshelved inventory. Patricia Staton-Thomas, ALFA president, said the response was beyond anything she could have imagined and it reminded her that “things are well in the world.”
The store organizers said the looks on shoppers’ faces when they discovered new books to cherish made all their hours of preparation worth it. They shared that one gentleman took home two beautiful French cooking books for his coffee table and a collection of Audubon drawings. “He was like a little kid at Christmas,” Frace said.
For her grandniece, an emerging art teacher, Oser purchased a couple of books. One was “a beautiful book on butterflies,” and the other, on Dale Chihuly’s art. “A book has always been a gift,” Oser said.
Frace bought “World’s Most Dangerous,” a book by Michael Haglund about the history of Columbia River bar pilots, one of whom was a good friend before he passed. Mattioda said she has been enjoying William Kittredge’s “The Nature of Generosity,” which she is borrowing from the bookshop’s inventory.
While one of the perks of the bookshop is not having to worry about due dates, Frace said she will bring the book back for someone else to explore when she (and her husband, who she said can’t put it down) is done with it.
“Books are temporary friends in our lives,” Frace said. Beyond a localized community resource, the Astoria Public Library bookshop may become a hub for international book exchanges, with tourists visiting year-round. “What if you’re on a cruise and you finish your book?” Oser wondered.
Some of the shop’s inventory is old library books, but most of it comes from private donations. For locals interested in sharing their “old friends” with the community, or earning a tax deduction, the Bookshop Committee welcomes donations of books, DVDs and CDs that are in good shape. At this time, they are not accepting magazines, dictionaries or encyclopedias.
The State of ALFA
Astoria Library Friends Association
Annual Meeting
March 31, 2026
Welcome to the Astoria Library Friends Association annual membership meeting. We are ALFA, for short, and I am Pat Thomas, ALFA board Chair. I am thrilled to see so many people here tonight in our newly renovated space, and hope that we can answer your questions about ALFA.
Mission Statement:
The Astor Library Friends Association (ALFA) is a 501 (c)(3) volunteer-run, non-profit organization that provides resources and funding for community programming beyond the scope of the library's budget.
Over the year the library underwent renovation, so to ALFA worked to revitalize itself. We have added new board members (and lost valued, long-time members) as we revamp and renew our goals. Thanks to our webmaster Fred Pot, we have added a website—astorlibraryfriends.org—and are updating our membership database. Spurred on by our grant from United for Libraries/Penguin Random House, and a major donation from Jeff Newenhoff of City Lumber, we have purchased gardening equipment for our Library of Things.
Board members Patsy Oser, Gina Mattioda and Miki Frace have spearheaded the organization and opening of ALFA's new Bookshop. The Bookshop will be open Saturdays from 10:30-2:30. Book donations are welcome (no magazines, encyclopedias, or dog-eared book), please, preferably during Bookshop hours so that we don't overburden the librarians.
Treasurer Dave Ambrose reports that ALFA's copy machine is generating pre-renovation revenue again for library programs. Later in 2026 we plan to start a membership drive to help expand our contributions to the library. All this to help bring more and better programs and services free to the community.
To continue, we need the help of past, present and future ALFA members. Most of our contact information is more than ten years old. If you are a past member, please contact us (info@astorlibraryfriends.org) so that we may include you in our mailings. To help attract new members and encourage current Friends participation, we have set a regular meeting time of the second Wednesday of each month at 2:30. We plan to schedule special meetings for those who can't attend during regular business hours, so please let us know what is good for you.
And, last but not least, we are searching for new people. Do you love books, have ideas and a few hours each month? We want you! Most importantly we are looking for volunteers with database, technical, social media, and bookkeeping skills. We need volunteers for the Bookshop, people to help set up events, people to help maintain the Library of Things. We are looking for event cookie bakers! Most importantly, we are looking for people with ideas and the desire to help support the library.
Look for ALFA members at library events, at the Bookshop, contact us by email, through the website, (www.astorlibraryfriends.org) or become a members by filling out a remittance envelope at the library—we look forward to talking with you. And, we now have ALFA buttons., showing off our logo .Be among the first to show your support of ALFA and the library by buying one tonight!
Patricia Thomas
ALFA Board Chair