By Stephen Smoot
With a relatively new director and a mostly new leadership team, the Friends of the Library gathered last Tuesday to review the successes of the annual dinner and review plans for the spring and summer.
Before the proceedings opened, members passed around homemade heart shaped almond sugar cookies with blue trim. At 4 p.m. exactly, the meeting came to order.
The incoming president, Rhonda Nash, first welcomed a new member, Jane Germain. She had just moved in from Vermont. The first conversation she heard upon entering and sitting, naturally, was about maple.
After approving the minutes, the group started to discuss the summer reading program. Walt Johnson, director, has repeatedly indicated that he wants to expand the library’s programming. Nash mentioned that planning has already commenced for a program entitled “Adventure Begins at the Library.”
Shortly after came the discussion on the recent annual dinner. Madeline Hoover, the former president, commented that “the music was very good.” A number of Pendleton County High School students rotated playing the piano, playing classic favorites during dinner.
Mike Rechlin agreed that “it was wonderful.” Nash shared that she thought it added to the ambiance and said that she “really enjoyed when they played Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah. “
Nash added, “They were very poised.”
The last item under old business found the committee agreeing to move the start time from 4 to 4:30 p.m. to accommodate those who worked in the late afternoon. The date remained on the first Tuesday of the month.
Nash issued under new business “a big thank you to our outgoing secretary Darlene Bokelman” for undergoing the task of updating the organizational signatories at the bank.
Under new business, after some discussion and checking with Johnson, the group will continue to reimburse the Pendleton County Library for the cost of a subscription to the Inter Mountain newspaper from Elkins. It serves as the only outlet near Pendleton County that covers statewide news.
Nash said, “I’m a big proponent of hard copy newspapers.”
She then informed the group of the upcoming National Library Week between April 7 and 13. During the week, on the ninth, is National Library Employees Day.
The theme for the week is “Ready, Set, Library!” Nash explained that she liked the exciting and colorful logo. The group then discussed how to decorate to celebrate the week. Last year, the group bought a poster for display.
Members decided to request that the Pendleton County Commission pass a proclamation honoring the week. Boyd Lucas, vice president, agreed to take the matter before the commission.
They also agreed to raise the amount of money put on gift cards handed to employees on National Library Employees Day. Traditionally, the amount has been $15, but the board agreed to raise the amount to $25. The cards are meant to pay for “Lunch On Us” as a token of gratitude for the hard work always done by the staff.
The gifts are presented the morning of the employees’ day.
Next, came a discussion on how to set up the book sale for Trout Fest, including figuring out how many days to run a sale and when to sort donated books.
Johnson described a major book donation from a professor that would come in multiple loads. The donation could come in as many as 40 boxes. The books came from his personal library so a number could make their way into the general collection, while the rest go up for sale.
When questions arose about the storage for such a large donation, Tom and Haley Craig offered a spare room in their house to keep the collection as long as needed.
