Friends of the Libraries of Towns County Newsletter
Volume 11 Number 5 September 2010Comments from FOL President Marilyn Pierce
Reminders that another summer is coming to an end are evident in the return of Towns County's children to school earlier this month. Despite the heat, the fall activities have begun. For FOLTC the August Book and Bake Sale, the setup for which began on July 29th, is moving towards its second and final weekend. Preliminary results are positive, but I will leave the details to the Co- Chairs of the sale, Jan and John Roberts.
FOLTC and the libraries of Towns County owe an inestimable debt of gratitude to the Roberts. Originally from Indiana, but residents of Georgia for twenty-six years, both of them have held various offices in our organization for many years and have worked tirelessly on the biannual book and bake sales. For anyone who has participated in the preparation of these sales, the details and hard work seem daunting: arranging for much of the publicity for the sales; the refreshments and guest speaker for the special preview for members only night; lining up members to make phone calls and participate in the dual sales; arranging for the storage, transport, pricing and display of the books; examining books to determine any special value inherent to them; and arranging for the disposition of books left over from the sales. Jim Hale helps in determining the value of books, and his wife, Barbara Hale, our "Paperback Queen", does most of the work involving paperbacks. While these pros provide considerable direction, a great deal of additional labor is needed to put it all together.
Lest we forget the primary purpose of all this work, a picture of our former Treasurer, Jane Manuszak, handing a check for $5,000 to Sandi Vaughn, Branch Manager of the Mountain Regional Library, appeared in the newspaper in July, a reminder to all of us that our libraries really need our help. The Friends provide about 80% of the money needed for new books and other library materials, after our libraries sustained state budget cuts of almost 70% in recent years.
FOLTC has also been fortunate in having two members assume positions recently vacated. Jane Manuszak, our able treasurer for the past three years, is in the process of moving and will turn over her duties to Jim Reynolds in September. Jim and his wife, Trish, have been members of FOLTC for about ten years. He has been the past treasurer and president of the Fayetteville, Georgia Friends of the Library and is currently the chairperson of his church's finance committee and the statistician for the Mountain High Hikers group--excellent qualifications for his new position.
Jan Roberts gave up one of her many positions a few months ago: that of Membership Chairperson. Jane Farrell, another hard worker with a history in banking and an avocation in the appraisal of books and their value, has assumed that position, and she has put in many hours for our current book and bake sale. Jan Roberts, not content to be "idle", has volunteered to be our primary "tech" person. She recommended putting the minutes of our six yearly meetings online, and will spearhead FOLTC's efforts to have an online newsletter.
Officer Roster
| President | Marilyn Pierce (706-379-6672) |
| Vice-President | Doris Tilly (706-379-1306) |
| Co-Recording Secretary | Maureen Gustafson (706-379-2637) |
| Co-Recording Secretary | Christine Thompson (706-379-2330) |
| Corr. Secretary | Maureen Gustafson (706-379-2637) |
| Treasurer | Jim Reynolds (706-379-6601) |
| Book Bunch | Barbara Hale (706-379-3296) |
| Membership | Jane Farrell (706-896-7254) |
| Newsletter | Linda Dye (803-230-2571) |
| Publicity | Janice Cochran (706-379-3419) |
| Scrapbook | Shirley Heide (706-379-3861) |
Book Bunch Info from Barbara Hale, Chairman
After a break for the Book Sale, Book Bunch will resume on September 22nd (postponed from September 15th) with a discussion of The Third Time Around by George Burns, led by Steve Howell. In October the group will be reading Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. Jim Hale is the discussion leader for October 20th, and will be sending out information about which meditations will be emphasized. Watch for further info on your computer as the time draws near.
Remember the new meeting time is 1:00 P.M.
August Book Sale by Cochairs, John and Jan Roberts
This message is from your very tired, but happy, book sale chairmen. We haven't gotten a final dollar figure from the Treasurer yet, but preliminary figures point to close to, if not over, the $3,000 mark. Proceeds from both book and bake sale were up from last year. We attribute this to several things, but the road signs (made by Brittany Boyer) directed a lot of people our way, the arts festival across the street Saturday brought in people, having the bake sale on both weekends, and our own Friends - both workers and contributors - made it a huge success.
We want to thank all of you tireless volunteers who helped with sorting, pricing and lugging books. Also those who lived with our decisions on "put the book rack here" or "no, let's put it over there", or "I think I like it better where it was". Special thanks go to Steve Howell, our "go to" person. He is always there and willing to work.
And of course, thanks go to all the people who brought the baked items - of course the calories were removed. How did I put on two pounds then? They were delicious!
Lastly, thanks to those who contributed the books. Without these we would not have a sale. And remember, just as soon as you read what you bought, bring it back. We will sell it again next year!
The Mountain Regional Library and the Towns County Library are the best in the state - if not the world - and much of this is due to all who contribute in so many ways.
Our Vice-President, Doris Tilly
Thank you to the "mystery gardener" who took care of the weeds in the area on the left of the front walkway. Things look better without weeds but they (or this particular one) can be very tenacious. As soon as cooler weather prevails we will be weeding (again) and deadheading all the flowers in the Butterfly Garden. This year was a success with beautiful flowers and more butterflies and caterpillars.
THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS THANKS
To Jane Manuszak for her three years of service as Treasurer we appreciate all the time you so freely gave to the Friends. Thanks for the accuracy of the Friends business records.
To Jan Roberts for her years of service as membership chairman. With your leadership we have seen the members increase and many have become very active contributors.
To John and Jan Roberts for another very successful book sale.
To Jane Manuszak for a fantastic bake sale during the book sale.
To all Friends who assisted in anyway during the book and bake sale.
From Director Donna Howell's Desk
As I prepare to submit the annual report for our libraries for fiscal year 2010 (7/1/2009 - 6/30/2010), I thought I'd share some amazing statistics about our libraries in Towns County and our Friends.
For Fiscal Year 2010...
- The Towns County Public Library and Mountain Regional Library were open 4,162 hours.
- The Libraries in Towns County have 29 public access computers and they were used 33,799 times - an average of eight computer uses per hour they were open!
- 75,709 people visited the Libraries and borrowed 93,965 items - more than 8 items per person!
- More than 1,050 people used public wireless services at the libraries in Towns County - many during hours the libraries were closed!
- There are almost 7,000 active library users registered in Towns County. In fact, more than 61% of all Towns County residents have a library card - they represent a whopping 82% of the households in the county!
- Library staff in Towns County answered 36,347 reference questions - more than 6,000 questions per staff member!
- There were 75 children's programs in Towns County with a total attendance of 2,184.
- Libraries are a real bargain! Towns County citizens received all these great Library services for less than the cost of a single paperback book per person!
- Friends volunteered almost 1,000 hours on behalf of the Libraries - from shelving and gardening to helping with Summer Reading Program
- Friends provided ALL newspaper subscriptions in Towns County Libraries
- Friends provided 80% of the new books, and audio books added to the Libraries in Towns County
- Friends represented Towns County's Libraries at Legislative Day and the Friends of Georgia Libraries Conference
- Friends maintained the butterfly and herb garden by donating plants, and many hours of work
- Friends have an ongoing monthly book discussion group - The Book Bunch - that provides a great opportunity to share books and ideas
- Friends supported the Summer Reading Program that served more than 1,500 children
- Volunteers from the Friends shelved books for almost 500 hours
- Friends provided shelves, supplies, equipment, and services to keep our libraries open and useful
- Friends gave Library staff appreciation gifts and provided meals for staff development days
- Friends' membership multiplies individual support for the Libraries of Towns County - making them better for everyone!
Thank you to our fabulous library staff who put their hearts into serving Towns County Citizens every day, and to our Friends whose support makes such a difference in the services we are able to offer. Together we make a world of difference in our beautiful corner of the world.