Friends of the Henderson Libraries
Page Two
The State of Our Organization
October - December 2011
P. W. Petruso, Editor ppetruso@aol.com
Friends of Henderson
Libraries
Message From the
President
By Leslie Finzer
FoHL is governed by a volunteer Board of
Trustees, who is elected by the members at
the annual meeting. The 2011 FoHL
Annual Meeting will be held 10:00 AM to
12:00 PM on October 25th in the Board
Room of the Paseo Verde Library. In the
past, few members have participated in the
annual meeting and fewer on the board. If
you are committed to supporting your
public libraries and want to influence
Friends as a leader, attend and speak up.
Fall is in the air and our 2012-14 election is
just around the corner. We are looking for
interested parties who would like to get
involved with the Friends’ Board. It is a very
rewarding opportunity to give back to our
Library District, and the amazing people you
will work with will keep you coming back for
more.
“What shall I do with all my books?”
was the question; and the answer, “Read
them,” sobered the questioner. But if you
cannot read them, at any rate handle
them and, as it were, fondle them. Peer
into them. Let them fall open where they
will … If they cannot enter the circle of
your life, do not deny them at least a nod
of recognition.
– Winston Churchill
A Nominating Committee has presented the
following slate of candidates for 2012:
President, Ron Hughes
Vice-President, Marian Brown
Secretary, Leslie Finzer
Treasurer, Alexandra Costa
Membership Chair, Helene Spaulding
Additional Board members are appointed.
2012 Directors: Paula Petruso, Julie
Buckley, Jane Freese, and Donna Israelson
Historian, Kathy Hug
Immediate Past President, Laura Jane Spina
There has been a 15% increase in volunteers (about 250) over the past year, but
paid membership is stagnant. Our libraries
have lost more than 33% of their funding
over the past 4 years. We need you.
RECEIVED:
* From a private individual, a $1,500
donation for audio and down-loadable
books.
*From Stephens Press, a donation of books
valued
at
over
$3000.
Got Books?
One of those amazing people is our recently
departed Friend, Marilyn Dial, who is now in
heaven looking upon us and making sure all
our i’s are dotted and our t’s are crossed . . .
and, for sure, our decimal point is in the right
place. For those of you who had the pleasure
of knowing Marilyn, you will remember what
an awesome person she was; there was so
much detail in everything she did. A woman
with a huge heart and ambition, she helped
our Friends’ Board go to a higher level every
year. She will always be loved and terribly
missed. Next time you are in the library,
please observe a moment of silence for her.
Of course another good idea for all those
books is to donate them to the library for
possible inclusion in the collection or for
sale by the Friends of the Henderson
Libraries on Amazon, or in the branch
bookstores or monthly book sales. The
sale of gently used books generates much
needed revenue for our libraries and we
are abundantly grateful for all the
donated items that come to our libraries
every day.
For many years Marilyn was also very
involved with the Friends’ project, “Library Tree
Lane.” She would want me to remind you to
save the dates: November 17th through
December 2nd with the Holiday Author Chat
being on the 18th and the Gala on the evening
of the 2nd. Please mark your calendars, if not
for all of the events at least for one. You will
be sorry if you miss the Gala this year
because 200 gift baskets are promised for the
silent auction, the highest number ever. See
you there.
Friends sells canvas book bags ($10)
and “green” reusable book totes ($2)
which you can fill with prime selections
from our Friends bookstores, located in
each branch. Add a bow and for a total
of $5-$15 you can give a gift of best
sellers and treasured classics customized
for each recipient.
Who on your gift list wouldn’t
LOVE a bag full of books?
As I mentioned before, working with Friends
is very rewarding as we were able to give the
Library Board a check for $100,000 for the
purchase of new books. These monies were
raised with our Amazon Sales, monthly Used
Book Sales and our Book Stores. Thank you
to our volunteers and to you who help by
donating and purchasing books. What a
gratifying feeling to be able to help a service
agency, like the Henderson Libraries, that
continues to suffer with budget cuts through
state legislation.
DISBURSED:
* Former treasurer, Marilyn Dial recently
passed away.
Marilyn single-handedly
took a manual bookkeeping system into the
Used Book Sale Revenue
21st century. To honor her and preserve her
name in the library, Friends will donate
Good news, the newer branches are
$1,000 to the HDPL’s Giving Tree.
seeing more traffic at sales. In August,
* Funded the participation of one library
Green Valley brought in $741.33.
staff member in Leadership Henderson.
January thru August 2011
* Funded the purchase of three carts to haul
boxes of books at Paseo Verde Library.
Book Sales - $17,563.81
* Funded prizes for the 2nd annual
To all of you and yours the very best,
Amazon Store - $27,165.45
Henderson Libraries Teen Creative Writing Laura Jane Spina, FoHL President
Book Stores - $29,296.62
Contest to be held Dec. 1 to Feb. 15.
FRIENDS are admitted to BOOK SALES 30 minutes before the public on the FIRST FULL DAY of the sale.
Friends get FIRST PICK privilege! You will enter the library before it officially opens; no staff is available. Please avoid bringing children.
On the LAST DAY of the sale (usually MONDAY) books are sold by the BAG at $2.00 each.