The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Library encourages friends in drive
New and returning members of Friends of Avon Lake Public Library were invited to a Fall Friendzy for an annual Membership Drive and Prize Raffle.
The Friends library fundraising group began Sept. 9 to accept sign-ups through the event at 32649 Electric Blvd.
Carol Lawler is a friend of the library and said it’s a festive way to kick off new memberships for the year with the raffle prizes.
She said guests are welcome to sign up on the day of the event or at any time throughout the year.
The fee for a membership category, or level a friend chooses to sign up for, went toward the amount of tickets used in the event’s raffle, she said.
Friends or members were entered into raffles for local food, activity and fallthemed
prizes.
Any applicant seeking to be a friend must pay their chosen category membership fee.
The levels start at $10 to be an Individual or Senior Friend, $15 for the Family of Friends, $25 for the Good Friend, $50 for the Very
Good Friend and $100 for the Generous Friend level.
Lawler said they’ve gotten many sign ups so far during the event and is looking forward to the help from friends this year and the opportunities they can create for upcoming library programs.
Last year they had about 300 friends, she said.
Friends of the Library is a group that helps raise funds or provide opportunities through most of the programing at the Avon Lake Public Library, she said.
The support from the friends can help create a better experience for youngsters, teens and adults at the library.
Lawler said their funds – raised by opportunities like a used book sale, Anime Club, Mother/Daughter tea, and a kids concert series – support the library’s programs.
Kathy Mayer, another friend of the library, said recent funds have helped provide rentals for ukuleles and bike used for the Lorain County Metro Parks’ Kopf Family Reservation trail behind their facility.
The Friends fund over $6,000 in special library programs annually, including summer reading programs, story times, DiscoveryWorks and young adult and adult programming, according to their brochure.
“People say the library is tax supported, but it only goes so far, because with the money we’ve raised, we can offer so much more to the community,” Lawler said. “There’s just so many different programs at the library that we’ve been able to underwrite for all ages groups.”
Mayer said the library wouldn’t have had many of their programs without the Friend’s support.
“It’s another way to help support your library,” she said.
Friends of the Avon Lake Public Library is what their name implies: a collection of committed, caring individuals who share a common vision of excellence for their public library, the brochure said.