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BEMIDJI — The Friends of the Bemidji Public Library will be spending the week of Oct. 16-22 celebrating its Friends of the Library group as part of the 17th annual celebration of National Friends of Libraries Week.
The Friends of the Bemidji Public Library was established in 1983 and has raised more than $200,000 for the library to date. Currently over 250 community members contribute annually to the Friends, and nearly 50 of these contributors actively volunteer their time to assist the group with fundraising efforts that include staffing the Red Door Book store, a release said.
“Volunteers are the backbone of our organization, and we couldn’t do all that we do without our dedicated Friends members and volunteers,” Friends president Sara McKinney said in the release. “Our board, programs, Red Door Bookstore volunteers and members, are a crucial part of what we do to promote literacy in our community.”
Over the years the Friends have actively donated time and money towards these programs at the library:
- Children’s Summer Reading Program
- Adult Winter Reading Program
- 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten Program
- Books for Babies Project
- Mary Harding Literacy Grant
- Friends Support Reading Grant
The current board includes President Sara McKinney, Vice President and Marketing LaVon Dennistoun, TreasurerSharon Geisen, Co-Secretaries Marge Danielson and Kim Williams along with Leona Hambrecht, Denise Johnson, Mary Thrash and Elsa Voltz.
