Friends in the News

Library Friends are special people, often volunteering many hours each week for years to serve the libraries they love.  Some of the devoted Friends of the Pleasant Valley Library have been stalwarts since the beginning of the operation now nearly ten years ago.  These include Barb Shapley (current president), Sybil Alderman, Joe Lukaitis, Mary Bunch, Eileen Weslowski, and Suzanne Nolan.  Today I am pleased to pass on some kudos to Friends of the Bethel (CT) Library and the Greenville (NY) Library.

In some ways, the relationship between the Pleasant Valley Library Friends and the Bethel Friends has been like that of cities that are paired with each other.  My longtime friend (and frequent co-author) has been a large part of the Friends of the Bethel Library since before Pleasant Valley even had the current Friends organization. Currently Jenny is president of the Bethel Friends, a position she has also held before. Now she is about to step down from the Friend's Board, but not from her work with the group.  She and her organization were recognized publicly on February 8 for a surprise donation of $25,000 as a big step toward closing the gap in funding for finishing the new wing of the library building.  This sum was nearly all raised through the sale of donated books and other media.

Bethel has another connection with the Pleasant Valley Library.  The husband of Library Director Daniela Pulice has a business in downtown Bethel, so Daniela knows that library well, also.

I mentioned that Library Friends often volunteer year after year.  Mary Heisinger of the Friends of the Greenville Library has been at it for more than twenty years.  The Town Council of Greenville recently honored her work by declaring February 6 "a day of special recognition."  Until last fall she was the Friends' president.  The recognition was an award ceremony at the Friend's "Winter Tea" at a local restaurant and, it appears, was a surprise for Mary, who received various awards and plaques.

It is great to learn of a Town Council that recognizes the value of a library in the community.  Too often the Town officers are more likely to see the library as just another drain of tax money.  The national anti-tax fervor (as I read in the paper today) has led many leaders to want to cut all sorts of educational and cultural programs, including PBS, NPR, and Teach for America.  As with libraries, these institutions need more support, not less.  At least in Pleasant Valley the voters decided that it was more important to support our library than it was to eliminate taxes.