It’s Great to Have Friends

With summer past, it’s time for an annual tradition here at the library, and one that I thought deserves some discussion here: the Friends of the South Portland Public Library and the annual book sale.

Though I don’t intend to use the blog here for promotion of specific library events, I’ve found that very few of our users know how important the Friends (and the annual book sale, specifically) are to the library’s operation, so I wanted to devote some space to talk about it. 

Books are beginning to fill the shelves as setup for the book sale starts.

• Have you or any of your family members participated in either our adult or children’s summer reading programs?

• Were you one of the 100+ people who attended our recent after hours concert in the library by Cul de Sax?

• … or one of the 1,000+ who attended any of the 42 children’s programs in August?

• Have you stopped by any of our recent seasonal festivals presented by the children’s department, out on the library’s lawn (or, in one case, inside, thanks to a drizzly Saturday)?

If you’ve participated in any of the above, or any of the library’s other programs and special events, you have directly benefitted from the generosity of the Friends.

The simple fact is that the library receives not a cent in the annual city budget – outside of staff payroll – to support of programs.  The entirety of the library department’s budget goes toward staffing, maintaining the collections and upkeep of the buildings and grounds.  Without the Friends, we would have no funds available to hire performers or speakers, to purchase supplies for children’s events or refreshments for author talks, or to even buy simple items to help ‘dress up’ the library with seasonal displays and décor.

Simply put, the municipal budget provides for two buildings with books and other materials, and the people to handle them.  The Friends organization, however, transforms those buildings into rich and active community destinations.

It has been said that the city provides the body of the library, but the Friends provides the soul.

I’m bringing this up now, as we are coming up on the single most important fundraising activity of the Friends – the annual October Book Sale.  Details on the book sale can be found here.  Beginning on the Tuesday after Columbus Day (remember, Tuesday night is a “members only” preview night… but you can become a member of the Friends at the door for as little as $10), the book sale runs through the following Saturday.

The massive pile of boxed books in storage, otherwise known as “The Glacier,” which encroaches into the work space as the year goes on.

While planning and organizing for the book sale is a year round effort, it is the weekend before the sale – Columbus Day weekend – when an army of volunteers transform the lower level rooms of the library into the book sale.  With an estimated 20,000 books to set up and organize, it is a monumental task.  By the time the doors open at 5pm on Tuesday, however, the space is filled with great books, all sorted and well organized.

And the best part?  All revenue generated – every cent of every book sold – goes directly back into the Friends’ mission of supporting the library.

It is almost an act of alchemy: the Friends take a year’s worth of donated books and donated labor and turn it into a years’ worth of special events at the library.  From concerts to talks from world-renowned (and, hopefully, soon to be world-renowned, local) authors and, even, super-messy (but incredibly fun) craft projects for kids, the Friends – and the book sale – make it all possible.  It truly is great to have Friends!

A successful book sale guarantees us a rich slate of programs in the coming year, and, after a year of hard work from the Friends volunteers, now it comes down to you.  Please stop by and browse the sale – there’s plenty to choose from, and you certainly can’t beat the prices!  With children’s books maxing out at 50 cents each and adult hardcover books set at $2.50, you can come away with quite a haul, at minimal cost!

If you’re shopping the sale, please consider picking up an extra book or two – any money you spend goes directly back to our programming and other efforts to improve the library for the benefit of the community.

We – and your neighbors – appreciate it!

On another note, it’s been far too long since my last post to the blog.  I can’t believe how quickly the summer flew past!  My last post to the blog was in July, and that sort of lag time does not meet my goals and expectations for this blog.  Let’s try and get back on track… 

I always welcome feedback.  If you any comments or questions, I can always be reached through the Contact Us link a the top of the page.

You can also keep up with the library on Twitter: @SoPoLibrary and on Facebook

Thanks,

Kevin