Friends of the Pike County Public Library
Friends Celebrate Milestone Anniversary
- Monday, April 14th
- 10:30-12:00
- held in the Community Room
We proudly announce the 45 anniversary of the Friends of the Pike County Public Library. Our organization began as a surprise for its founder, Sheila Gabriel Sheila, a newly retired teacher, decided to do volunteer work in the Milford community. Being an avid reader, she thought first of the local Library, and visited the Director in the Spring of 1980 to volunteer. He surprised her by asking her, not to shelve books, but instead to start a “Friends of Library” group. He handed her a packet of information concerning the formation of such a group.
Sheila liked the iden. She approached the existing Library Board of Directors to get their approval. They enthusiastically gave her a ‘green light. Here is a direct quote from Sheila: “One of the members was an attorney who offered his pro bono assistance in forming our Friends group. We gratefully accepted-starting with a amall group of Library users, we had a meeting to discuss how to organize ourselves and how to assist the library. With the help of the Library Staff and some of the library deak volunteers, we created a list of potential ‘Friends’ donors; 303 people responded to our mailing. Donations totaled $1759.00. We were off and running!”
Eventually, the American Legion Hall became the new location for larger book sales,
and bake sales were added. The Friends had their dreams fulfilled when the new Milford branch library opened eleven years ago providing a Friends bookstore for daily sales.
Bus trips became a brilliant way of raising funds for the Friends of PCPL. Following the example of Sheila, Dorothy Arnes, and Martyn Freed, for twenty of our 45 years, Joyce Clark was our Bus Tour Director. Joyce created so many cultural and educational trips for the Friends travel group.
After Sheila Gabriel, we have had a list of devoted Presidents: Thelma Flint, Dorothy Ames, Jane Goldstein, Martyn Freed, Ken Corcoran, Marcy Livingston, and Irene DeVito. Each had their own vision and goals for the Friends organization. Each moved us successfully on to the next step in our future existence. Kevin Crawley, our current President, has innovative ideas, but also appreciates input from the public. Come to our meetings and share vour ideas. (continued see Pat Corcoran pase 31
