When the Montgomery City Public Library’s Friends of the Library was formed several months ago, it set a mission to make the community understand that the library is more than just books.

The new nonprofit organization will promote and support programs and organize fundraising events for the library located at 224 N. Allen Street. The organization includes co-chairpersons Shannon Brock and Dhara Jethwa, secretary Lynn Arens, Anna Powell, Beth Beattie, Beth Cobb, Dave Teeter, MCPL director Gaylee Harris and board members Jim Guffie and Angel Davis. Powell, Harris, Arens, Beattie and board member Pat Garrett are part of a membership committee that is trying to get community members involved in the organization.
“Pat took care of doing the flyer, the brochure and whatnots and Beth Beattie has been a huge help,” Powell said. “It’s been a really good working committee where people seem to be putting in an equal amount of work and getting a lot done. I feel like it’s been super successful.”

The Friends of the Library will have its first welcome meeting at 6:30 p.m. on April 16 at the MCPL Community Room, explaining what its goals are as well as giving participants an opportunity to share their ideas on what is needed to improve the library.

The Friends of the Library currently has a membership drive that is divided into five levels – individual ($25), family ($75), supporter ($250), contributor ($500) and benefactor ($1,000). Members will get items such as vinyl stickers, koozies and tote bags.

Beattie organized the membership payment form through Cheddar Up, which allows people to create payment pages in a short amount of time.

“That’s something that Beth Beattie uses a lot with the FCCLA group,” Powell said. “That’s the website she uses. She couldn’t have recommended it highly enough. She was super happy with it anytime she used it, so we went ahead and set it on there. Whenever you click on each level, it tells you we do a little bit of giveaway.”

Powell, a Montgomery City resident, said she enjoys going to the library because it has so much to offer. The library has plenty of resources for children, teens and adults. It has the Creation Station, which includes a VR system, a Cricut machine, a digital computer and a scanner. It also holds classes on robotics and crafts.

“I have an aunt who lives in Fulton,” Powell said. “I reposted about the flower art class that is coming up. She said, ‘Can I come even if I live out of the county?’ I was like, ‘Absolutely.’ She got several friends who are coming and they’re interested. She was like, ‘I can’t believe your little library offers this many things.’ There is always something going on. We hope to only increase that with doing Friends of the Library, getting people who have talents to come in and share their knowledge and little workshops. Hopefully, interest will only go up.”

Anyone who wants more information about the Friends of the Library can go to its Facebook page at Montgomery City Public Library Friends of the Library.