Friends work to:
* Expand public support and use of the library
* Conduct used book sales
* Enlist and recognize volunteers
* Encourage gifts, memorials and bequests
* Organize bake sales and other fund raisers
* Create a “Friends” newsletter and website.
The mission of the Friends of the Library is to create and maintain an association of persons interested in libraries;
To focus public attention on the services and needs of the Holmes County District Library;
To advocate for the library and its mission and support the library’s position on legislation;
To raise funds to support the libraries services and programs;
And, with the concurrence of the Board of Trustees of the Holmes County District Public Library, to influence the gift of books, magazines, endowments and bequests.
Why Our Library Needs “Friends”
Our library always has had strong support as an educational tool and a place for learning. Many Holmes County residents, long-time vocal supporters, saw the need for more concerted actions to ensure our library continued as an outstanding county resource. Others joined in and the “Friends of the Holmes County District Library” was created in 2006.Today, “Friends” includes a growing number of county residents and businesses, who are dedicated to ensuring the future of our Central library in Millersburg and East Branch in Walnut Creek.
A freeze and later multiple cuts in state funding for libraries, including ours, now threatens that viablity. Recently, several county-wide ballot issues failed due to a tight local economy and insufficient funds to mount large “get -out-the-vote” movements. Cuts in staffing and library hours resulted. The library’s two bookmobiles, the busiest in the United States for a county population of our size, required help to keep them on the road. “Friends of the Library” is actively working to raise funds to help and has donated money for projects in each of the library’s branch locations to provide much-needed materials. We welcome any and all who believe, as do the “Friends,” the comment below from author Toni Morrison:
“Access to knowledge is the suburb, the supreme act of truly great civilizations. Of all the institutions that purport to do this, free libraries stand virtually alone in accomplishing this mission.”