Every October since 2005, many libraries across the country have celebrated National Friends of Libraries Week to express their appreciation for friends and supporters who play big roles in the library community.

This year, the Montgomery City Public Library is holding a celebration for its Friends of the Libraries group, which was formed last year by director Gaylee Harris and MCPL board members Pat Garrett, Jim Guffie and Angel Davis as a way to help the library become an essential place for the Montgomery City community. National Friends of Libraries Week began on Oct. 20 and ended on Oct. 26.

“It’s really neat to get a new group started in our community and to highlight a wonderful library that we have,” said Anna Powell, who is the president of the MCPL Friends of the Library. “The library does a great job of getting out information about themselves, but it is so nice to be part of something that can support them and can help them expand their scope or be able to get more things for the community. I was really glad that this group got started and to be part of it. We’ll see how it goes from here.”

The officer team includes Powell, president-elect Lynn Arens, secretary Ellen Kolling and treasurer Shannon Brock. Powell, Arens and Brock are also part of the FOL steering committee, which also includes Dave Teeter, Dhara Jethwa, Beth Beattie and Beth Cobb.

The American Library Association founded National Friends of Libraries Week nearly 20 years ago to honor a non-profit organization that helps out libraries through advocating and creating fundraisers.

The MCPL Friends of the Library’s role is to promote and support programs and organize fundraising events for the library. It currently has a membership drive that is divided into five levels – individual ($25), family ($75), supporter ($250), contributor ($500) and benefactor ($1,000).

Since the group was founded, it held two book sales, one on April 13 and the other on Aug. 17. The April 13 book sale raised $566.75. The Aug. 17 book sale, which sold most children and teen books, sold around $400.
Powell said she was pleased with the turnout of the Aug. 17 book sale, which was held just three days before school began.

“It was a pretty good sale for not having done one like that before and having a limited scope,” the president said. “It wasn’t all adult books and everything. I thought it went well. I thought the timing was good. We looked forward to it. I think there were several teachers there, including one from the Catholic school (Immaculate Conception) who came over and got book sets for her classroom that we had for sale. I know it helped out not only kids, but a couple of teachers as well.”

The FOL group also helped the library celebrate International Mud Day on June 29.

“It was great,” Powell said. “It was really popular. Kids had a really good time. It poured down rain first thing that morning, which ended up being great because the kids jumped right in. There were mud puddles that we wouldn’t have had otherwise. There was mud painting and mud pies. There were activities inside for kids who weren’t as big on getting dirty. There were snacks, books and crafts. It was wonderful. I think it was definitely a hit. We’ll be doing it again.”

Powell said the group’s next goals will be searching for more grants and teaming up with the library staff to help out with more programs.

“It’s in our mission statement that we’re there to support the library,” Powell said. “We have common goals with Gaylee and the library board. We’ll see what they’ll do next.”