The Library needs Friends!

Can you help us?  

The Dover Public Library has been extremely fortunate to have a very supportive Friends of the Library group for over 35 years. The Friends are an essential fundraising and advocacy arm for the Library, contributing over $15,000 per year for performers' fees, speakers' costs, museum passes, summer reading and poetry contest prizes, and library equipment and technology needs. As none of these items are included in the City's budget, we really would not be able to offer our considerable array of popular programs and vital services without the beneficence of the Friends.

The Friends raise funds partly through membership dues and merchandise sales, but the bulk of their revenues derive from their hugely successful booksales. The Friends of the DPL are a fiscally sound and solvent organization, but due to some recent retirements and relocations, the group has dwindled considerably. The Friends are seeking new, active members who can attend meetings--- just 5 times per year!  

Could you join us for five meetings a year?

Although many library patrons are Friends’ members through payment of annual membership dues, there exists a smaller “core group” of Friends (including officers) who attend bi-monthly meetings of the group, plan programs, organize booksales, make decisions on purchases, and actively advocate for the library. It is this “core” group which we are seeking to enlarge at this time. Our core group is presently seeking new, actively-involved Friends who can assist with budgeting, accounting, communications, fundraising, member recruitment, and planning. The Friends of the Dover Public Library meet at 1pm on the 2^nd Wednesday of September, November, January, March, and May. The time commitment is not burdensome, yet much is accomplished at each meeting: plans are laid, goals and directions are set, and events are scheduled.

Why should I join?

Becoming an active Friend of the Library will unite you with other like-minded supporters and lovers of the library. Our Friends group has a strong voice in promoting the vitality of the library to others, and in these days of budget cuts, the need is greater than ever for members of our community to help us sustain library services and programs. Friends’ members believe that any community is a better place in which to live if it supports its library. Download a membership form at http://www.dover.lib.nh.us/Friends2.htm or pick one up at the adult circulation desk. 

When & where should I show up?

The Friends next meeting will be September 11, 2012 at 1pm in the Library Lecture Hall. We’d love to see you there! Please call Cathy Beaudoin, Library Director, 516-6050, or email c.beaudoin@dover.nh.gov if you have any questions about joining the Friends. The Friends need you! The Dover Public Library needs you! Thanks so much!

 

Friends' October booksale