FRIENDS OF THE
SELINSGROVE COMMUNITY LIBRARY
Annual Report to
Members 2006
Our Friends group has been very busy during 2006! While our main
focus has been to raise monies for our library through various
fundraising events, we have also spoken on behalf of the library in
an effort to increase borough funding. We helped raise awareness of
the library through attendance and participation in the program of
the statewide 20th Annual Institute for Trustees and
Friends.
2006 Board
At our annual
meeting in December 2005, the following Slate of Officers for 2006
was elected by vote of the Friends membership:
Officers
President Elizabeth Heim (term expires
12/31/06)
Vice President Deborah Bernhisel (term expires
12/31/06)
Secretary Barbara Grubb (term expires 12/31/06)
Treasurer Walter Hagenbuch (term expires
12/31/07)/
Janis Gemberling*
Current
Members of the Board
Lynn Askew (Library
Board Liaison) Joyce Bilger
Patty Gaugler
Joyce Hendricks
Grace Housley
Emily Johnson
Pat Reiland-Hess
Linda Wieder (Fundraising)
Barbara McGary of
the Library attends our board meetings.
* Walter
relocated to Massachusetts in mid-2006. The Board appointed Janis
Gemberling to fill out the remaining term of Walter’s position as
Treasurer (term expires 12/31/07). Thank you, Janis, for helping
out once again!
2005
Gifts to the Library
Towards
the end of each year the library presents Friends with a prioritized
“wish list” for the upcoming year. The wish list enumerates various
items, services or programs that the library feels would enhance its
service to and/or enrich the community. Funding for these items is
not available in the library budget. In 2005 Friends donated $10,965
to the library, providing funding as follows:
-
We funded the library's Wish List 2006 in its entirety
[Total $10,000]
-
Storymobile
- Conversion of the van into a county storymobile to bring
early literacy programs to children through the county
branches (supplies, van logo, story trunk, etc.) (Cost
$2,900)
-
New
shelving for children's area - designed in an appropriate
height for children and providing a more attractive and
inviting environment for children (cost $5,000)
-
Other items
to create a more aesthetic atmosphere in our library to
create a better environment for patrons (cost $2,100)
-
We contributed funding to a Harry Potter special event
at the library in 2005.
-
We renewed the movie license for the library's popular
teen movie night program.
-
We purchased a copy of each of the 32 children's books
used in Tree Fest 2005 for the library's permanent collection.
Total donation to
the library $10,965
2006 Gifts to the Library
Early
in 2006 we contributed $2,000 to be used towards the library’s 2006
summer reading program. The library has given us their Wish List
2007 (copy attached) totaling $10,413. We will not complete our
annual donation to the library until our crock sale is completed and
all funds generated by Tree Fest are collected so we can assess our
financial picture accurately. However, it appears likely that
Friends will be able to provide funding for all items on the
library’s 2007 Wish List. That, together with our mid-year donation
of $2,000, would result in a total donation from Friends to the
library in 2006 of approximately $12,500 – an accomplishment to be
proud of!
2006
Fundraisers
Our major
fundraisers for 2006 were:
-
2006 Spring
Book Sale & Raffle
-
Quilt Raffle
-
Sale of
collectible, numbered crocks (Selinsgrove High School)
-
Tree Fest of
Children’s Books 2006 (Third Annual Tree Fest)
-
Sale of Merchandise
2006
Spring Book Sale & Raffle
– May 2006. Earned $982 plus additional monies from the sale of
merchandise. 2006 is the fourth year we have sponsored book sales.
Quilt
Raffle – Prize was a Homespun Star queen size quilt, Amish made by
Nora Martins Quilt Shop in Mifflinburg, PA. The drawing was held
following the Selinsgrove Street Festival in late September; Janet
Evans was the lucky winner. We sold approximately $1,400 in raffle
tickets and applied for and received an additional $400 in grant
money from Thrivent, for which we are deeply grateful. 2006 is the
fourth year we have sponsored the quilt raffle.
2006
collectible crock
- features Selinsgrove High School and has proved very popular;
sales are brisk and very few crocks remain unsold at this time. We
have a limited number of our 2005 crock featuring the Governor
Snyder mansion still available at the library (price reduced to
$35). We are grateful to Rod Ries for his artistic drawing of the
high school and to Don Housley for his time and expertise in
developing an attractive, informative brochure which is included
with each crock purchased. As in the past, the crocks were made by
Bjuno Pottery in Adamstown, PA and each is consecutively numbered
and includes a “Friends” stamp. The crocks are priced at $35 each
and 500 crocks were ordered for 2006. We do not have final sales
figures at this time. 2006 is the fourth year Friends have offered
this fundraiser. We raise more money for the library from the sale
of crocks than from any other event.
Tree Fest of
Children’s Books 2006 - both a fund raising event and an awareness raising event.
The Tree Fest Committee approved a goal of $2,100 in funds raised
(net after expenses) for 2006, a substantial increase over last
year’s net earnings. This will be our third annual Tree Fest event;
it commenced on December 1 and will end at 8:00 p.m. on Friday
December 15. The event is held at All Saints Episcopal Church at
129 N. Market Street in Selinsgrove. There are 23 decorated trees
and 9 wreaths, full capacity for the church hall. The trees are
awesome this year; if you haven’t already visited Tree Fest, we hope
you will do so – it is truly a magical event!
Sale
of Merchandise
– In 2006 Friends established a line of merchandise for sale:
-
Friends of the
Library tote bags
-
Literacy lapel
pins
-
Book Lovers
calendars
Merchandise is
available at the library and at various Friends fundraisers.
20th
Annual Institute for Trustees and Friends
In 2006 the Annual
Trustee Institute joined with Pennsylvania Citizens for Better
Libraries (PCBL) for a two day meeting of Trustees and Friends, held
in Grantville, PA. Two of our Friends board members attended, as
did Carol Handlan from the Snyder County Libraries board. I
participated in the panel “That’s What Friends are for: A Panel of
Success Stories”. We all learned so much and increased our
knowledge of how to advocate for our libraries.
Ongoing Challenges
We
are still seeking a person or persons to join our Friends board and
volunteer their efforts towards:
-
Managing a
membership database
-
Managing our
website and quarterly newsletter
I have accepted an
invitation to join the board of Pennsylvania Citizens for Better
Libraries (PCBL) for a three year term, and look forward to the
opportunity to advocate for both library users and Friends groups
throughout the Commonwealth. I will remain on the Friends of the
Selinsgrove Community Library board for a two year term as Immediate
Past President, a non-officer position.
We’re proud of what
our Friends group has achieved in 2006 and we hope you’re proud to
be a member of Friends of the Selinsgrove Community Library. I want
to personally thank you, our membership, for your continued
support. I also want to thank all the people who have volunteered
their help for various events, and last but most certainly not
least, many thanks to each dedicated and hard-working Friends board
member.
Let’s continue the
good work into 2007.
Elizabeth Heim,
President
837-1672
polkadot@eawireless.net
Check out our
website:
www.friendsofselinsgrovelibrary.org
