Book Booster
Doug Forester's love of books is a boon for the Oro Valley library
Doug Forester is happiest when bogged down in the minutiae of book-keeping and book moving.
Forester has volunteered with the Friends of Oro Valley Public Library since its inception in 2001, helping with everything from hauling hefty books to handling the group's finances.
The retired IBM engineer moved to Northwest Pima County two decades ago, and knew he wanted to give back to the community.
He soon found his calling, lending his hand to the county after it started work on the Oro Valley library in 2001.
"I went over to see what I could help with and they had a lot of boxes of books to move," Forester said. "So, I became pretty proficient in moving boxes around with a hand cart."
Forester did just that in the years to come, lending whatever he could to help shuttle books to their new destinations, in addition to handling the Friends of the Oro Valley Public Library's finances.
His immense knowledge of book-keeping helped him excel as the group's treasurer, and provided him an outlet to do something that he truly loves.
"I like the idea of balancing books," Forester said. "It's got a certain completeness to it that you've got to really pay attention to. And that keeps my interest as well."
Group president Jane Peterson is one of Forester's many admirers and expresses great appreciation for the long-time volunteer's efforts.
"He's an engineer and he's very exacting," Peterson said. "He's very good with figures. He created software for us for our Internet sales, and he's a semi-professional ballroom dancer, too."
Perhaps one of Peterson's greatest accomplishments in his time as a member of the Board and as a treasurer with the group is his contributions to their Books for Teachers program.
The program, which provided free books to 212 K-8 teachers during the 2015-16 school year, requires a lot of logistical assistance, which Forester provides in spades.
Forester created a database that tracks and reports the number of books collected in the annual drive, which allows them to better serve the educational community.
He's proud to give back, and enjoys helping the many dedicated teachers in the area provide the supplies they need for their students.
"We gave $46,000 to schools in Tucson, 54 schools in Tucson in total. And some of it was for libraries for the schools and some of it was directly to teachers so they could go and buy books," Forester said. "I did all the accounting for that and the book work. It was really rewarding to be able to generate a report that shows exactly what was done."
Peterson has high praise Forester's impact on the group, and how much he's meant to the library system in general.
"What we do is very labor-intensive and a lot of these books are heavy," Peterson said. "The work load is truly relentless. But [Doug] is a perfectionist when it comes to the numbers and he keeps track of every cent that comes in and comes out, we've never had any problems. We've been audited by the IRS; everything comes out just fine because he's so careful and good with our books."
Forester, who grew up in Tucson and graduated from Catalina High School, hopes for he'll be doing this for a long time to come.
"I just look forward to many more years of thing before I lose my mind," he said, laughing.
—Christopher Boan
