Friends Of The Library
2010 FOL Volunteer of the Year
As an active volunteer for the FOL, Ardis Meier was voted by the committee as the 2010 Volunteer of the Year. The countless hours she contributed toward the 2009 Home & Garden Tour, Co-Chair of the April Book Fair and other various committees made her an obvious candidate. Volunteer work is no stranger to Ardis as she also donates her time to the Commission on Aging and the Little Store as well.
Volunteers throughout the community were honored at a recognition banquet held on April 20th. Ardis, a retired teacher from Rib Lake, Westboro and Medford, brings her dedication and enthusiasm to all of her endeavors. A special thank you goes out to Ardis for all her dedicated work from all of her Friends.
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Who We Are
The Friends of the Frances L. Simek Memorial Library, Inc. (Friends) is a non-profit 501{c}-3 organization, dedicated to aid and promote the activities and services of the Frances L. Simek Memorial Library-Medford. Friends of the Library are the special people who give freely of their time, energy and enthusiasm to accomplish these goals. This Membership Form is an editable PDF file that can be filled in and then printed to send with your dues to:
Friends of the Library
400 North Main Street
Medford, WI 54451
There are volunteer projects to fit different times and talents. Volunteerism provides a chance to enhance the library and help the staff. Do you have some extra time? Are you looking for something new and would like to help the library? Join the FOL Volunteers.
Volunteers can arrange their schedules for their convenience. Some people work on a regular schedule coming in once a week. Others prefer coming in when help is needed as an on-call volunteer.
It is easy to become a library volunteer. Just contact FOL Volunteer Coordinator Sharon Beilfus or the library (748-2505).
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What We Do
FOL members give support financially to the library, and many also choose to participate in other FOL sponsored activities such as:
- Christmas Tour of Homes and Summer Tour of Gardens - on alternate years FOL sponsors tours of outstanding area homes and gardens.
- Semi-annual Book Sale - twice a year the FOL volunteers organize a used book sale. Books donated by the public are for sale during the three day event (first day is FOL members only).
- Assisting the Library Staff - Some people volunteer to come in on a regular basis and help the staff where and when needed. On occasion, volunteers provide hospitality needs for various library and FOL functions.
- Shelf Help Day - The staff decides which area of the library needs a little extra tender loving care to make it more attractive and easier for the public to use. The Friends volunteer their time to get the job done.
- Storytime - Storytime provides a high quality, developmental and age appropriate literature for preschool children during the school year.
- Reading Discussion Series - The FOL Readers' Group meets in the large conference room on the third Tuesday of September, November, January, March and May at 7:00 pm for discussion of that month's featured book. The book discussion schedule is on the Events page.
- Tending The Library Gardens - Since we do not employ a gardener, the Friends took over the duties of planting and caring for the library gardens. This project is under the leadership of Liz Archibald.
- Display Shelves - The Friends change displays on the shelves at the library entrance. This is the perfect place to display additions to the library collection and let patrons know what is available at the library.
- Publishing The FOL Membership Newsletter
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When and Where We Meet
The Friends meet eight times a year on the last Monday of the month at the Frances L. Simek Memorial Library - Medford. There are no meetings in June, July, August or December.
Members receive a newsletter to keep them abreast of upcoming events that is published quarterly. They also have a special "members only" early shopping night for the book sale. But the biggest reward for becoming a member is the satisfaction of participating in the development of a first-class library.
Upcoming Meeting Information
May 24, 2010 - Annual Meeting, at 7:00 p.m., Large Conference Room
August 16, 2010 - Organizational Meeting, at 7:00 p.m., Large Conference Room
September 27, 2010, at 7:00 p.m., Large Conference Room
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FOL Funded Projects
The Friends bring in funds through membership dues, contributions and various fund raising activities. These funds provide:
- Annual support for the Children's Summer Reading Program and other children's programming.
- Purchase of the annual Caldecott and Newbury award books.
- Support for the continuing development of our library.
- Additions to the library computer equipment.
- Purchase of the microfilm reader and its related maintenance.
- Book prizes for the Open House during National Library Week.
- Continuing additions to the library collection.
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FOL Events
| Date |
Event |
Time |
| May 22, 2010 |
Plant Swap |
9 - 11 am |
| May 24, 2010 |
Membership Meeting - Election of Officers and Committee Chairs |
7:00 pm |
| June & July, 2010 |
Flower and Garden Maintenance |
|
| August 16, 2010 |
Organizational Membership Meeting |
7:00 pm |
| September 27, 2010 |
Membership Meeting |
7:00 pm |
| October 11 - 15, 2010 |
Fall Book Sale |
TBA |
| October 25, 2010 |
Membership Meeting |
7:00 pm |
| November 29, 2010 |
Membership Meeting |
7:00 pm |
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FOL Newsletter -March 2010
The newsletter is also available as a PDF download. If you'd like to view it in that format, choose the link below:
Monelle's Missive
My two year term as your FOL president will expire in May when I will be handing the books over to another eager volunteer. The Friends of the Library organization has been a great group of people to work with. They are a dedicated bunch of volunteers who step up when work needs to be done. They promote reading, learning, and community support of our library.
Your local library is a place full of adventure. If you want a quiet spot to read, that's available. If you are searching for entertainment there are a variety of DVD's to choose from including up-to-date WII games. For web communication and internet searching you can utilize one of the library computers. For the children, you can discover storytime and a ton of books and videos just for them. If you haven't been to the library lately, stop in, and check out all the wonderful opportunities that are available to you.
Keep reading,
Monelle Johnson, President
Month by Month
At one of the recent FOL meetings, it was voted that a monthly donation of $100 will be given to the library to purchase books, DVDs, CDs, puzzles or any other material. The objective of the donation would be two-fold. Firstly, it would promote the FOL organization more prominently to those visitors to the library. Secondly, it would fund seasonal or needed materials the library would require or desire anyway.
In March, the library purchased award winning books (Caldecott and other honoraries): Big Wolf and Little Wolf by Nadine Brun-Cosme & Oliver Tallec, The Lion & the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney, Moonshot, The Flight of Apollo 11 by Brian Floca, All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon and The Faraway Island by Annika Thor.
April's purchases included Wii games. These items are especially popular and of the almost 30 Wii games in circulation, there are usually fewer than 5 available for checkout at any one time. The FOL purchased the following games to increase the growing collection: We Cheer, Dancing with the Stars; We Dance, and Shaun White Snowboarding; World Stage.
In honor of Mother's Day, the May's selection included five titles: Bedtime for Mommy by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, When did I get like this? by Amy Wilson, Feeding the Sheep by Leda Schubert and The Wild, Wild Inside: A View from Mommy's Tummy! by Kate Feiffer and My Mother is So Smart by Tomie DePaola.
Plant Swap at the Library
On May 22, the Master Gardeners are hosting a plant swap at the Library's Eastern parking lot. Participants are encouraged to bring plants to exchange with other enthusiasts.
The swap starts at 9:00 a.m. and goes until 11. Perennials, ferns, shrubs, flowers, bulbs and any plant variety are welcome and can be exchanged during the event. No sign-up or prior notification is required. Just show up with your greenery. Event will take place, rain or shine.
Spring Book Sale
The April Book sale was a modest success. Considering there didn't seem to be the great amount of donated books from the community, the sale did attain $1197 for the three-day event. As a comparison, the 2009 book sale made $1258. During the sale we always get renewals for the year and over 36 renewals were made in the month of April with 4 new members.
Suggestions for the future included putting ads in the Shopper for Garage Salers to bring unsold books to the library as an alternative to tossing or other charities. Another was to put on signs for the Alternative School Helpers or develop a map to assist them with putting the books in their desired categories.
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FOL Board Of Directors
| 2009 - 2010 Friends of the Library Board of Directors |
| President |
Monelle Johnson |
| Vice President |
Donna Machon |
| Secretary |
Mary Bouchard |
| Treasurer |
Chris Finkler |
| Members at Large: |
| Lisa Dums |
Ardis Meier |
| Corinne Liske |
Krisi Tlusty |
| Open Position |
|
| Standing Committees: |
| Volunteers |
Sharon Beilfuss |
| Newsletter |
Corinne Liske |
| Display Shelves |
Carol Arnett |
| Membership |
Vicki Jeppesen |
| Garden |
Liz Archibald |
| Ex-Officio Members: |
| Ann Harris, Director |
Library Board Member (vacant) |
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