Friends of the Libraries of Towns County Newsletter

Comments from FOL President Janice Cochran

The Friends of Libraries USA (FOLUSA) have designated Oct 18-24 as National Friends of the Libraries Week. The mission of FOLUSA is to motivate and sustain state and local support groups across the country in an effort to preserve and strengthen libraries, and to create awareness and appreciation of library services. For more information on FOLUSA visit the American Library Association website at www.ala.org.

Towns County Friends of the Libraries have made special plans to recognize and celebrate Friends of the Libraries Week. On Tuesday, October 20, award-winning Georgia author, Terry Kay (see bio below) will be guest speaker in a special program presented by Towns County Friends of the Library and made possible by the "We the People" program funded by the Georgia Humanities Council. Terry Kay is known for his novels: To Dance with the White Dog, The Story of Marie, The Valley of Light, and The Year the Lights Came On. His books appear on the Center for the Book's list of "25 Books All Georgians Should Read." Make plans to attend and enjoy native author, Terry Kay. Mark your calendar for Tuesday, October 20, 2009, at 7:00 P.M. in the Wilson Lecture Hall in the Goolsby Center on the Campus of Young Harris College. The public is invited and admission is free.

Officer Roster

President	Janice Cochran
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
Publicity	See below*
Scrapbook	Shirley Heide (706-379-3861)

Book Bunch Info from Barbara Hale

Since Terry Kay is speaking in Young Harris the night before the October 21st Book Bunch meeting, the selection for the month has been changed to his book, Shadow Song. Gigi Smith will still be the discussion leader. The November 18th book will be Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt with Maureen Gustafson as leader.

Members should be sure to get a copy of the work sheet for suggestions for next year's books, and bring it to the October meeting, because the first five selections for 2010 will be chosen in October. The second five selections will be chosen at the November gathering. Any members interested in making suggestions but unable to attend the sessions should leave the worksheet at the MRL desk and request that it be placed in the Book Bunch folder, or send it to Barbara Hale (bhale@brmemc.net).

New members are always welcome. The group gathers at 12 noon and the session begins at 12:15 P.M. Bring a lunch, if you wish, and plan to stay a little longer than usual, so that there will be plenty of time to make wise selections for next year.

Doris Tilley, Vice President's Thoughts

Remembering---

As our annual Book and Bake Sale plans are being made, I am remembering Norma Mullican and her years of work for our group. Norma died on July 12, 2009 at the age of 85 years. She had lived for many years and was a neighbor and friend of in the PineCrest subdivision.

Norma was always busy with her many activities (Pink Ladies, Hospice, AARP, Book Bunch, Red Hatters, ICL, Sharp Memorial Methodist Church Sunday School, and of course The Friends of the Libraries of Towns County). She kept an accurate account of all her meetings and could be depended on to attend each one. She also enjoyed her travels with the United Community Bank Golden Club and Elderhostel. Imagine, her last trip was to Paris and then to Egypt at the age of 85 years.

Norma was a founding member of our Friends group in 1996 and for several years was the Telephone Chairperson for the Book & Bake Sale. Each year she worked tirelessly sorting books before our annual sale, and then during the sale assisted in finding just the book for which a buyer was looking.

I picture Norma at our Book Sale, happy to help someone and being a part of the activity. Last year she said to me, "This is hard work but it is fun to be with such a wonderful group of friends". We Friends of the Libraries of Towns County shall miss Norma.

From Director Donna Howell's Desk

Fall is definitely in the air! That means it is time for school to start, summer reading program to end, and the Friends to get ready for their annual book & bake sale! And that book & bake sale revenue has funded some pretty spectacular things for our libraries over the past year.

• The Friends provided lots of new (and new to us) books and audio books. In fact, between cash contributions, adopting authors, and donations of books, the Friends were responsible for adding 4,115 new items to the collections of the libraries in Towns County - that is more than 84% of all new items added for our libraries!
• The Friends also provided shelving to hold those new books and materials in both libraries. Our library staff members have been very creative in finding ways to rearrange and add more shelving to our libraries to keep our collections growing.
• The Friends provided subscriptions to what is now our only daily newspaper in either library - The Wall Street Journal. We have this available both online and in print. Towns County Public Library also subscribes to the daily online edition of the Atlanta Journal and Constitution.
• And Friends provided 499 hours of volunteer service to our libraries! This volunteer service provided shelving assistance, book sales, bake sales, furniture rearranging, book hauling, and assistance with library sponsored programs.

And we needed the help!

• Towns County's libraries checked out almost 88,000 items to the more than 69,000 people who visited our libraries in fiscal year 2009 (7/1/08-6/30/09)
• Library staff answered more than 33,000 reference questions and registered 642 new library card holders
• More than 29,000 people used our public use computers and another 1,200 used our public wireless access
• More than 3,500 people attended 297 meetings in the multi-purpose room in Young Harris
• Over 2,900 children and caregivers attended the 134 children's programs provided in Towns County
• Our libraries loaned 3,625 items from our collections to users in others PINES libraries and we borrowed 2,976 items from them for our users

Towns Countians once again affirmed that they are among the top library users in the nation! And they backed up their use with support - through the local agencies that fund library services, through the Friends of the Libraries of Towns County, and through their contributions of money, materials, and time.

Once again, I am humbled by your support and generosity. Thank you - on behalf of our hard-working library staff and our communities.

And before I close, I must acknowledge the passing of one of our hardest working, most dedicated Friends, Norma Mullican. Norma was an amazing example of selfless and joyful service to our community through her work with the Hospital Auxiliary, the Regency Hospice, and the Friends of the Libraries of Towns County. Norma was a good friend and I miss her, especially at book sale time because she was always such an integral part of it. How fitting that this year's sale will be dedicated to her memory.

Terry Kay

Award-winning novelist Terry Kay was born in Hart County, Georgia, the eleventh of twelve children. He was reared on a farm and was graduated from West Georgia Junior College and LaGrange College, earning a degree in Social Science, with extensive study in theater arts. He began his career in journalism in 1959 at the Decatur-DeKalb News, worked for The Atlanta Journal as a sportswriter and, for eight years, as one of America's leading film-theater critics.

In addition to his journalism, corporate, and writing careers, Kay has taught as a visiting lecturer in the Department of English at Emory University and twice directed Emory's summer creative writing program.

In 1989, he left the corporate world to devote full time to writing. Kay's first novel, published in 1976, was The Year the Lights Came On, a story inspired by his memory of the coming of electricity to his rural community. It was followed in 1981 by After Eli, a disturbing view of a charming Irish actor terrorizing an Appalachian community. In 1984, Dark Thirty, an examination of justice vs. vengeance, also set in Appalachia, was published. To these first three he continues to add additional titles.

Having been honored with numerous awards, the most recent is the 2009 Governor's Award in the Humanities. Join the Friends of the Libraries to hear our guest speaker, Terry Kay, on October 20 at 7:00 pm in the Wilson Lecture Hall, Goolsby Center, Young Harris College campus. Admission is free.

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