TURLOCK – Both Hanna Renning’s and Dieter Renning’s love for books sparked at a young age.
“My interest in books goes back to my childhood,” said Hanna Renning. “We always had a lot of books at our house, so I’ve always been around books.”
“As soon as I had learned to read in elementary school, I was eager to get books,” said Dieter Renning. “My parents got me my first book for Christmas after I had started school in Germany. I was a book reader all my life.”
This common interest undeniably played a part when the couple first crossed paths in Germany in 1958. Both enrolled in the University of Friedberg, Hanna Renning was studying history and Dieter Renning was pursuing his doctorate.
“We wrote to each other for two and a half years after I went back home because we couldn’t afford the telephone,” recalled Hanna Renning. “It cost $25 for three minutes in those days!”
“When I came to the United States in the beginning of December in 1960, I spent about eight months there as a post doctorate research assistant at Indiana University,” said Dieter Renning. “During that time we saw each other and decided it was time to get married.”
Having been married for over 53 years, the couple has played a huge role in advocating for a literate society within the Turlock community. Hanna Renning served as a clerk for the Turlock Public Library in the 1970s and then moved on to work at the California State University, Stanislaus as a library assistant in the 1980s.
Also having held a position at the prestigious university was Dieter Renning, who was an economics professor for 26 years.
When Hanna Renning retired from CSU Stanislaus in the early 1990s, she started devoting her extra time to the Friends of the Turlock Public Library. Not long would have passed until Dieter Renning retired and decided to join as well.
Both Hanna Renning and Dieter Renning served as presidents for FOTPL and helped guide other members on how to promote the welfare and growth of the Turlock Public Library by raising supplementary funds and awareness regarding various offerings provided the library.
“People do still value books and a lot of people still enjoy holding a book in their hands,” commented Hanna Renning. “Of course the Turlock Public Library has e-books and it currently is busy teaching guests how to deal with technology in order to read e-books on their own devices. All of these things still make reading pertinent and the emphasis is still on the act of reading, not on what form the work is on.”
Dieter Renning echoed Hanna Renning’s sentiments, adding how FOTPL and public libraries make it possible for anybody to access quality literature at no added inconvenience.
“I think people should have access to literature of any kind. Public libraries make it so much easier for people to read what they want to read because they don’t have to buy it themselves or have bookshelves that overload their space,” said Dieter Renning. “For a literate society, I think access to a public source of reading material is just crucial.”
In addition to her former role as FOTPL president, Hanna Renning has also served as a board member for years. Currently, she is one the main coordinators among other co-chairs for the organization’s annual book sale.
With this year boasting nearly 15,000 donated books for customers to choose from, Hanna Renning reports that dealers from as far away as Seattle flock to Turlock for this sale in hopes of finding undiscovered literary treasures.
Books left over from this year’s sale will not be forgotten—as Lightly Used Books has plans to take them and make a reasonable donation to FOTPL. This donation as well as funds made from the sale will go towards benefitting the library in one form or another.
Although still a week away, Hanna Renning reported that the organization is not accepting additional material. According to the coordinator, this is due partly in fact to FOTPL losing its storage facility at Hypower Hydraulics.
“We are grateful to Hypower Hydraulics for allowing us to store our books and do our sorting there for years, but they have decided this year to put that space to new use,” said Hanna Renning.
That being said, the coordinator reported that FOTPL is currently looking for another business in Turlock, which is willing to lend them their space until they find a more permanent location.
Another challenge faced by FOTPL is the closure of Ritzy Rags’ Turlock location earlier this month, which has hosted one of the organization’s book bins for five years. This bin included books, DVDS, and CDs that FOTPL believed to have higher price potential, and were sold on a consignment basis to customers.
“All of the efforts of FOTPL are towards supporting the library in a variety of ways,” concluded Hanna Renning. “The public library is an institution that makes it possible to have a level playing field for everybody. It doesn’t matter if you’re rich or poor—you don’t have to pay for a library card—you have access to all of the services and materials that the library offers.”
FOTPL’s annual book sale will kick off with a preview sale for members from 4 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 22 at United Methodist Church at 1660 Arbor Way. Memberships can be purchased at the door for $10.
The public sale will take place from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 23 and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 24. For more information, call 209.632.4692.