Lifetime Achievement Award couldn't go to a better choice

July 18, 2003

There is certainly no one better to receive an award for lifetime achievement from the city of Oakley than Bev Novarina. Especially since this is the first time the city has given out this award and it will be long remembered that Novarina was the first to receive it.

Many may know her because of her active involvement in the community. She is a 45-year resident of Oakley and has won several honors for her service to the town over the past few years.

In 1974, Novarina started working for the Oakley Library. While most don't even remember that Oakley had a library before the new one opened at Freedom High School, there was another. As with most small towns, the Oakley Library was located in one of the county buildings. At that time it was the Oakley annex of the Contra Costa Sheriff's Office.

The Library was housed in a small room off to the side of the sheriff's station. The room was small, but after the library system got started it was able to carry quite a few books for the enjoyment of the local residents. There was even a reading hour for toddlers and young children to enjoy stories told by various volunteers.

It wasn't always like that. Bev likes to tell a story about how when she first started there were so few books on the shelves that if someone came in and took out five of them there would be only one left on the shelf.

Although Novarina is also fond of saying she had lots of help over the years in working on the library system, the time she put in was incredible. Over the years there have been stories and reports of the hard work she put in to bring books to our community. She also put in more hours than anyone could possible hazard a guess in keeping the library going when many thought it should just be closed down because it wasn't worth it.

In 1997, when Novarina won the Oakley Citizen of the Year Award sponsored by the Oakley Chamber of Commerce, she said that she was ready to retire and let someone else take over the helm. While that might have been her intention, it seems to have not come to pass, because even though she may no longer be the president of the Oakley Friends of the Library she still is there as an inspiration to those who have come after her.

Novarina may be best known for her time as a member of the Friends of the Library committee, but she also has been active in many other organizations over the years. At one time she was active as a member of the now defunct Oakley Woman's Club, which from the early 1900s until it disbanded in the late 1990s was a driving force in the community.

Novarina also has volunteered her services working with children and on many committees and organizations for the betterment of the city of Oakley. She has been active on a committee to get more parks in Oakley, and worked with the county to help get housing for low-income seniors and the disabled in the community. She has spent hundreds of hours volunteering her time to make Oakley a great place to live.

Novarina was awarded a plaque at Monday night's City Council meeting in view of her friends, neighbors, children and grandchildren. She also was given a proclamation from District 5 County Supervisor Federal Glover. Also on hand were members of the Friends of the Library Committee and the Contra Costa Library Commission to say some nice words about all of the work she has done over the years.

Novarina was thankful for the award and asked that other seniors in the area consider getting involved in the community.

Roni Gehlke's column on life in Oakley appears each week in the Brentwood News.

Distributed by the Contra Costa Times

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