October 20-26, 2024 is National Friends of Libraries Week! Every year, United For Libraries celebrates the work of Friends groups across the country, so we'd like to take the opportunity to celebrate the work that our chapters have done in Fresno County this year! There are currently 16 active Friends of the Library chapters in Fresno County (17 counting Auberry, which has its own separate organization), all of which help raise money for their individual branch needs. If your local branch doesn't have a group at the moment, never fear, though: the Friends of the Library also works at the countywide level to make sure that any branch that needs help with programs and materials can get it!
Let's take a look at a few of the things the Friends of the Fresno County Public Library's been up to in 2024! This is by no means an exhaustive list-- just a small sampling of some of the things our volunteers and members do to help make the Fresno County Public Library the best it can be!
Summer At Your Library
Every year, the Friends of the Library provides funding for extra Summer At Your Library programming. This helps the Library make sure that patrons, staff, and performers all have the best experience possible! This year, we helped pay for extra programs at Woodward Park, Clovis, Sanger, and Fig Garden, including programs by E&M Reptiles, Wild Child Adventures, ValleySTEM, Reptile Ron, and Magician Brady Lee.
Annual Poetry Contest
Every year, the Library holds a poetry contest, open to all Fresno County residents, and selects three winners in each of the four categories: 3rd-5th grade, 6th-8th grade, 9th-12th grade, and adult. The winners are chosen by local poets and celebrated at an awards ceremony at the Woodward Park Regional Library. The Friends of the Library always supply the gift cards for the winners, and this year, we were able to double the prize amounts! Prizes this year came from Petunia's Place and Barnes and Noble.
Movie Licenses
In order to legally show movies, even ones already in the collection, the Library must have current movie licenses, which can be quite expensive, especially for smaller branches; therefore, Friends of the Library makes sure they're taken care of! We've ensured that every branch that wants a license has one, even branches that don't have designated meeting rooms to show films in. This way, they're still free to have movie nights in whatever way works for them and their communities.
Bear Mountain - Branch Upgrades and a Community Cooking Class
Bear Mountain patrons have needs that occasionally differ from those of people who frequent metro area branches; for instance, because rural wifi isn't always very reliable, they tend to rent a lot more DVDs and Blu-Rays! Because they know how much these materials mean in their community, the Bear Mountain Friends made sure their branch had a Blu-Ray cleaning and repair kit! They recently got new endcaps, signage for the endcaps and shelves, new power cords, and wall mounts for the computers so that the space could be as efficient as possible. They also had a great idea for one of the endcaps: they purchased cups and mounts to create a houseplant clipping library!
The Bear Mountain Friends also received a grant this year for an "Eat Fresh" cooking class with the Sierra Kings Healthcare District.
Betty Rodriguez - Movie Nights, Yoga, Book Sales, and More
The Betty Rodriguez Friends are well-known for their $5 Bag Sales, which help them fund activities like sponsoring ArtHop every month (both the annual membership with the Arts Council and refreshments for the monthly receptions), movie nights, and yoga classes-- both chair and mat varieties, so everyone can participate!
Central - Community Outreach and a $5 Bag Sale
The current iteration of the Central Friends is still fairly new, but they're finding their footing! This year, they held their first $5 Bag Sale and raised over $400 for their branch! They also tabled at Fresno EOC's Illuminate Our Pride for the second year in a row and had a great time promoting Summer At Your Library to the community!
Clovis - Trail Maintenance, Seed Library, Book Sales, and More
The Clovis Friends are always busy, both in the Library and out in the community! They maintain a stretch of walking trail through Clovis and sponsored a rock painting activity during this year's Trail Fest. They even maintain a Little Free Library! They also table at the farmer's market and sponsored an entry in this year's Rodeo Parade.
In the branch, the Clovis Friends sponsor tons of different programs and activities. They make sure the fish in the aquarium are cared for, helped get new bulbs for the patio lights, and even helped get Aunt Flo dispensers installed in both Clovis and Kerman so that patrons can have access to free period products. They also helped set up one of the only seed libraries in the entire library system, which allows people to get free seeds for their home gardens.
Kingsburg - Local Author Storytime, New Window Shades, and Culinary Herb Class
The Kingsburg Friends recently completed a big project: the installation of new window treatments to help create more privacy and keep the library cooler and shadier in the summer! This project wasn't without its challenges, but the shades are now used daily and have made a big difference in the branch!
Kingsburg FOL member, former children's librarian, reading specialist, and local author, Claire Noland, led a children's storytime and craft activity based on her book, Nancy Bess Had a Dress. The event was well-attended and gave kids an opportunity to interact with a writer from their own community!
The Kingsburg Friends also hosted another great member-led program: Culinary Herbs With a French Flair, led by member Amanda Ergo. Each attendee was able to create and take home a fragrant and functional herb wreath.
Politi - 50th Anniversary Celebration, Documentary, and New Library
The Politi Friends have had a super exciting year! It was the 50th anniversary of the branch's opening, so the Friends put on a series of events inspired by the work of Leo Politi, the branch's namesake, including a premier party for the documentary film on Leo Politi that they helped to fund! This was a massive project in terms of time, energy, and money, as well as a major learning opportunity, and the film is intended to be shown on PBS and accompanied by educational materials so it can be used in schools.
In addition, the Politi Friends helped to engage their community in a letter writing campaign to help get their branch a new home across from the current one, and thanks to their efforts and willingness to make their voices heard, the branch will be relocating to a bigger, better space in the near future!
Reedley - Talent Tuesday and Program Supplies
The Reedley Friends help sponsor supplies and refreshments for lots of programs and activities, most of them monthly. They provide refreshments for monthly Talent Tuesdays, often doing what they can to match the snacks to the theme of the program!
Recently, they've provided supplies for jewelry workshops, cubes for the Cubing Club, and Snap Circuits and Legos for the Maker's Club. These activities give kids and adults something free and fun to do and help them learn new skills and meet other people in their community!
Sanger - Murder Mystery, Aerial Performances, Chess Club, and More
The Sanger Friends have a plethora of regular programs and activities, many of which are remarkably popular! Some of their weekly programs include Coloring With Friends, Move It (an exercise group), Yarn Club, and Chess Club. The chess club has even gone to several competitions and done quite well!
The Sanger Friends have hosted a Murder Mystery event for two years now, with help from the Blossom Trail Players. These events include desserts, appetizers, and drinks and have been a fun after-hours activity.
Some of the programs the Sanger Friends have sponsored this year include performances by Halau Hula, magician Tim Mannix, Gilly Girls, Epic Aerial, and African Drum Interactive. They do their best to make sure there's always something to do in Sanger!
You can be a Friend, too!
Again, this is just a small sample of the kinds of things Friends of the Library are doing all over Fresno County. While we currently only have chapters at roughly half the branches in the county, we're always working to make sure that every branch has the programs and supplies they need! You can help us do this by joining the Friends of the Library, volunteering in your local branch, and by donating your time, money, and gently-used books!
Aside from an Executive Assistant and a contracted accountant, the Friends of the Library is a completely volunteer-run organization, so it's thanks to people like you that we're able to do things like run our bookshop three days a week, hold book sales, attend festivals and farmer's markets, and provide programs and supplies to the branches. We truly believe that libraries are an integral part of our communities and we want them to be the best places they can be, and we're so thankful for everyone who allows us to help make that happen!
Happy National Friends of Libraries Week!