Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Friends Group an Invaluable Asset for New Jersey Library


Link to November 29 nj.com post, "Hamilton library rich in friends and funds".

Excerpt:  Take a walk through the Hamilton Township Free Public Library with Bonnie Tillery and she’ll proudly point out what the Friends of the Library have donated.

There’s the automatic door for the library’s handicapped entrance, the two book return drops out front and a recycled wood picnic table for library staff to use on their breaks.

On top of that, there are benches dedicated to the memory of past volunteers, new computer chairs in the reference section and 250 chairs for a downstairs meeting room.

“This year we’ve donated over $40,000 in programs and supplies,” said Tillery, the vice president of fundraising for the group.

In a time of shrinking budgets, when other libraries are considering consolidations and seeing donations and municipal contributions drop, the Friends of the Hamilton Township Library are raising thousands of dollars a year, one book at a time.

In the past few years, the Friends, who number around 100, have dramatically expanded the library’s sale of used and donated books
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