By Stephen Smoot
During the invocation to open the 2023 Friends of the Library Annual Dinner, Rick Gardner said “I pray that we have good fellowship.” In that sense for certain, the group more than accomplished its goal.
Festivities opened at 5 p.m. with a social hour and potluck dinner. Group members brought their best, including homemade meatballs, potato casserole, spinach dip, pigs in a blanket, a variety of cakes and other desserts, and many more goodies. The Friends of the Library also set out a table filled with used books, mainly about military history, fiction, biography, and art. Each attendee was invited to claim one book to take home.
Last year, 28 people attended the dinner, but last Saturday’s event attracted more than 60 to the meal and celebration of the year.
At 6 p.m., the group held its official meeting. After the secretary and finance reports, director Becky McConnell gave an overview of the library during the past year. She described some of the programs held for children. These included a “History Alive” program featuring a portrayal of Charles Schultz of “Peanuts” fame and a summer reading program following the theme “Oceans of Possibility.”
The summer reading program taught ocean ecology, but also featured art projects. Children took items normally thrown away as trash, or at least not normally seen as art supplies, and created art from them. As McConnell explained, these programs taught children to be more creative in using what they can find around them. During shark week, for example, “they made sharks out of clothes pins.” She added that “one girl recycled tennis balls and made gnomes out of them. They’re pretty creative.”
McConnell also shared numbers from the past year. Borrower numbers hit 2,859. The library circulated a total of 36,196 books, 13,901 being children’s.
Supply chain issues, however, bedeviled the library’s plans for upgrades. McConnell explained that equipment shelving is entering its third decade of use and does not match modern technology. A unit of shelving ordered a year ago arrived damaged. A reorder delivered in late December and early January contained pieces that did not match what the library needed.
Hardy County also donated six computer stations made available by its library’s renovations. The Pendleton County Library, however, must wait for state officials to make a determination if they can work with the wiring currently in place.
McConnell also addressed state money coming at the behest of Senator Bill Hamilton to replace the circulation desk. The piece dates back decades to a time before digital technology dominated library services and funding will go toward its replacement. Finally, the library will replace the flagpole damaged in an accident last year, but will likely move it closer to the building to avoid the same type of incident.
After the overview, Nancy Boyer-Rechlin praised McConnell, stating “Thank you for the wonderful job that you do with such a small staff.”
Next came the entertainment for the evening, courtesy of Snowy Mountain Music School. Walter Hojka, director of the school, opened by introducing the Snowy Mountain String Band, composed of Azalea Waddell, Jax Bennett, Ava Sherman, and Aubrey Simmons singing and also playing the drums, keyboard, tambourine, and even the fiddle.
He said that “the theme of tonight is ‘My Friends.’”
The children played Irish inspired toe-tapping traditional Appalachian folk music, including songs such as “Morrison’s Jig” and “Tell Me Ma.” They were followed by adults who performed in the same general genre, but added traditional Appalachian instruments such as the hammer dulcimer and the banjo. Jennifer Taylor-Ide, Susan Patton, Carmen Rexrode, and Asa Mullenax joined Hojka on stage to perform a set for the attendees.
Hojka explained that the word “dulcimer” translates to “beautiful music.” Jennifer Taylor-Ide on the banjo then quipped “how long does it take to tune a banjo?” Her answer was “no one knows.”
What everyone knows, however, is the importance of libraries to the community. The vitality and mission of the Pendleton County Library was both celebrated and supported at the dinner to the enjoyment of all in attendance.
