Many years ago, Reg White and a small group of others, realized that people who love libraries could be motivated to support Stratford’s library and its role to enhance personal and community quality of life. So began The Friends of Stratford Public Library.
“Since then, we have donated almost $100,000 to our library from the annual book sale and magazine subscription sponsorship. This keeps children’s reading programs free of charge, and supports the magazine collection,” states Irene Miller, current Chair of the Friends.
The Friends have recently taken several steps to increase membership and to make fundraising efforts more effective for the library.
“One of our new exciting initiatives is to reach out to business people in this area through corporate memberships,” says Miller. “I believe that many more businesses would support The Friends if they knew about our organization and its volunteer opportunities.”
Lisa Hyde of Hyde Construction, a new corporate member, agrees. “I’m thrilled at the enthusiasm and commitment of The Friends to our library.” Jeff Walsh of The Compudoc was eager to become a corporate member, saying “My son loves the library.”
The Friends have also recently entered into a relationship with Better World Books who receive and resell many of the good condition, unsold books leftover from the annual Book Sale. Hundreds of these unsold books are currently available for purchase through the Better World Books website: www.betterworldbooks.com. When the books are sold, 15% comes back to The Friends, with the balance used by Better World Books to support literacy programs in Asia, India and Africa.
There are approximately 130 Friends of the Library, and four new corporate members who help out, check out, find out and speak out on behalf of Stratford’s library services.
For more information about how you can become involved with The Friends of Stratford Public Library:
- Plan to attend the upcoming Annual General Meeting on Wednesday, April 11 at 7 pm in the library auditorium
- Visit The Friends’ page on the Library’s website
0 comments:
Post a Comment