Comments from FOL President Janice Cochran

WELCOME NEW MEMBERS

Welcome to those of you who joined Friends of the Library during the September Book Sale. I look forward to meeting and working with you in the days ahead. I hope you will become involved with the Friends of the Library: attending meetings and participating in events.

The September Friends of the Library Book and Bake Sale was a huge success. Proceeds will be used to help buy books for the library and to fund special needed projects. On Thursday many Friends of the Library came together to browse and discover special selections. Refreshments were served and members enjoyed a time of fellowship.

The Saturday Bake Sale could not have happened without the efforts of many Friends who brought baked goods for the sale. We had so many calls for baked goods the second weekend that we have decided to offer baked items both weekends next year, so keep those recipes handy.

At the October meeting the group decided to move the Book and Bake Sale back to August for next year. Please make a note of the following dates. April Book Sale: April 22 (members only), 23, and 24. August Book and Bake Sale: August 19 (members only), 20, 2l, 27, and 28.

A very huge THANK YOU to all of you who helped make the Book and Bake Sale a big success.

Now it's time to join forces for a successful 2010!

Officer Roster

President	Janice Cochran (706-379-3419)
Vice-President	Doris Tilley (706-379-1306)
Recording Secretary	Jean Caputa (706-379-2496)
Corr. Secretary	Maureen Gustafson (706-379-2637)
Treasurer	Jane Manuszak (706-379-3538)
Book Bunch	Barbara Hale (706-379-3296)
Membership	Jan Roberts (706-994-0958)
Newsletter	Linda Dye (803-230-2571)
Publicity	See below*
Scrapbook	Shirley Heide (706-379-3861)

Terry Kay Guest Speaker

Author Terry Kay appeared as guest speaker for a special program sponsored by Young Harris College Library and Friends of the Libraries of Towns County in recognition of National Friends of the Library Week. The event was supported by the Georgia Center for the Book and the Georgia Humanities Council.

Terry Kay, beloved, award-winning Georgia author of books including To Dance with the White Dog, The Story of Marie, The Valley of Light and The Year the Lights Came On, shared stories about his life and work. Of special interest was the way ideas for his books came to be. Guests had the opportunity to meet and talk with Terry Kay at a reception following the program.

Pictured at right: Dawn Lamade, Director of Duckworth Library, Young Harris College; Janice Cochran, President, Friends of the Libraries of Towns County; Author Terry Kay, Guest Speaker; Bill Starr, Executive Director of the Georgia Center for the Book; Donna Howell, Director, Mountain Regional Library.

Notes from Book Bunch from Barbara Hale

The October Book Bunch meeting was made special by a visit from Shadow Song author, Terry Kay. The group enjoyed a soup and sandwich lunch and were both entertained and informed by our visiting author. Thanks go to his brother, John, for making Terry's visit happen. The session also included making selections for the first five books for 2010. They are: January - Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, February - A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon, March - The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein, April - Campfire Boys by Phillip Lee Williams, and May - The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens.

On November 18, the last five selections for 2010 will be made, followed by the discussion of Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt. Maureen Gustafson will be the leader. Please plan to bring your book suggestions, a new member, and your lunch (if you wish) and join us at 12 noon at Mountain Regional Library.

Info from our Book Sale Chairmen, John and Jan Roberts

I will try not to bore you with statistics, but I am so dog gone proud of the members of the Friends for all their work this year on the book/bake sale. Needless to say, it was another success!

This year we had approximately 4,500 books donated. The libraries (both Mountain Regional and Towns County) were able to shelve a goodly number of these. The remainder were sorted, stored, brought back from storage, with the help of Boy Scout Troop 101 from Blairsville, re-sorted and sold. We never reveal sale proceeds, but suffice it to say we were pleased. The two weekends proved to be profitable and we will do it again next year -- but we are going back to August. Please start saving your books for us.

From set-up of the sale to clean-up took approximately 75 hours. This does not count the hours all year that volunteers worked in the back room of the library sorting and sending books to storage. Twenty-two people volunteered for the sale for a total of 425 hours, plus Steve Howell's time which he refuses to turn in. He puts up the signs, cuts the boxes, lugs tables and boxes of books and many other back-breaking jobs.

All through the sale, we all commented on how much we missed our dear friend, Norma Mullican, to whom the sale was dedicated. But we knew that she was smiling down on us and whispering her inimitable comments.

Following the sale, we donated some leftover books to the Humane Society Thrift Store and four boxes of paper back books went to the North Georgia News to send to our troops overseas. Several books were kept to put on the Friends book cart in the library. The remainder was picked up by our friends with the on-line book store. They give us 50 percent of what they sell.

Friends of the Library Afghan Raffle Winner

Barbara Hale, pictured on right, crocheted the beautiful afghan for Friends of the Libraries of Towns County. Thanks Barbara for the hours of crocheting. Friends sold tickets for a chance to win the afghan and Jean Caputta, pictured at left, purchased tickets for her daughters and daughter-in-laws. Her daughter-in-law, Amy Caputta had the winning ticket. What a good mother-in-law. The Friends know Amy will enjoy her afghan.

April Patrick, center, Juanima Patrick, Jean Caputta and Barbara Hale

Jan Roberts and Barbara Hale

April Patrick drew the winning ticket at the end of the Friends Book and Bake Sale, which was a fundraiser to help with library projects in Towns County.

Doris Tilly, Vice President's Thoughts

The Butterfly Garden has been put to rest with the help of Jane Manuszak, Clarence Newton, Doris Tilly, and Skyline Copperfield. Pansies donated by English Country Gardens, Mike and Sally Clark, were planted. They will brighten the garden during the winter. The garden has been full of blooms since spring and many patrons have commented on it. Thanks to all who helped with the planting, weeding etc. during the spring and summer.

From Director Donna Howell's Desk

Wow - what a spectacular fall! Just looking out the window has been a treat. I hope all of you got a chance to get outside and enjoy the show.

Congratulations to the Friends on their successful Book & Bake sale, a great program for National Friends of Libraries Week with Terry Kay, another wonderful year of book discussions with Book Bunch, and a busy, successful year for our President, Janice Cochran.

The library has been hopping! Our libraries are doing their part during these tough economic times to help our communities. We are starting our online training program for the Georgia Ready to Work Certification to help our unemployed/underemployed users. We began circulating Kilowatt meters through the Governor's Kill-a-watt Challenge Program to help users reduce their home energy bills. And use of our circulating Park Passes has been growing so our users can visit state parks and historic sites at free or reduced rates. And of course we always offer books, audio books, magazines, newspapers, movies, music, internet access, and great service at the best possible price to our users - free!

Of course those services and materials are never really free - someone has to pay to provide them. And our libraries have had to cope with major budget cuts - we've lost 75% of our state materials budget, all direct federal grants, and all our state-paid staff will be taking six days of unpaid leave. But, thanks to the support of our funding agencies, we have not had to cut hours of operation or staff. We could not operate without the continued support of the state, Commissioner Bill Kendall, Superintendent Richard Behrens, Mayors Andrea Gibby and Barbara Mathis, and of course our wonderful Friends!

As we look toward Thanksgiving, I feel so very blessed. I am thankful for the opportunity to serve our communities. I am thankful for the great library staff that I get to work with daily. I am thankful for people in our communities who genuinely care for each other and our libraries. I am thankful for Friends who are generous with their time, talents, and treasure and make it possible for our libraries to serve our communities better - what a great partnership! I hope all of you have a rich and bountiful Thanksgiving.

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