Friends of North
Carolina Public Libraries—our
statewide volunteer Friends of the
Library organization—provides a
network for sharing ideas and
resources to strengthen our public
library service statewide.
Our fine public
libraries serve all North
Carolinians, providing myriad
programs and services for people of
all ages—from infants to senior
citizens and everybody in between.
There is beauty and
purpose in the work of all the
people who direct or support public
library service in North Carolina,
and since 1980 FONCPL has been an
enthusiastic advocate for their
efforts.
See a public service
announcement about FONCPL from
Regina Gale Dozier, our
Communications Director (2:20; 14mB;
added June 1, 2019).
Recent issues of the
FONCPL Newsletter are on the
Resources
page.
The 2019 FONCPL Annual
Report has been added to the Resources
page.
On May 22nd NC
Governor Roy Cooper loosened the
stay-at-home restrictions
somewhat. Many, if not most of
the libraries remain closed, but
are finding ways to serve the
public like curbside pickup.
Friends groups are meeting via
Zoom and phone conferences. Some
of them are finding that they
have better virtual meeting
attendance than they do
face-to-face.
Many
Friends are struggling with what
to do about book sales—the bread
and butter fundraiser. The
challenges are many and there is
no one answer to the many
variables. Wearing masks,
handling books with gloves,
maintaining social distancing
and keeping within guidelines
for gatherings are basic
requirements that must be met if
Friends hold a sale in a
physical location.
Other
fundraising events are similarly
affected by the executive
orders. Those cancelled in the
spring may not be able to be
rescheduled for the fall as so
many nonprofits are also
scrambling for venues and dates
to hold their fundraisers—and
that is in addition to an
already packed fall event
schedule for most areas.
But
if you are up to the challenge,
you have options. Selling books
and material online and selling
via Facebook are options. Maybe
this is the year for a donor
appeal or a faux book sale
online. Perhaps you may need to
cut back your financial support
of the library for a short time
until you rebuild your checking
account. Maybe the library could
do a wish list on Amazon for the
community to fill.
Whatever
your chosen response, if you
need guidance, do contact us. We
are here to help.
