A Little Help From Our Friends

         


          The Beatles sang about getting by with a little help from their friends, Thomas Jefferson said that friendship is precious and Mark Twain was quoted as saying, “Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.” Friends are important to all of us for all kinds of reasons. This is true at the Canastota Public Library, too. We want to thank our “Friends” (volunteers) for their spectacular book sale that took place at the end of October. Over $3,600 was raised from the sale of donations, weeded library materials, raffle baskets and used equipment.


          Countless hours were spent by our Friends sorting, pricing and organizing to prepare for this sale. Our Friends gave selflessly of their time and energy to convert our lower level into a mecca for shoppers. Happy customers left with great books, tapes and DVD’s at bargain prices. The basket raffle winners were especially pleased with their wonderful treasures. Patricia Baldwin won the “Women’s Pampered Reading” basket, Dawn Schoeck won the “Wine and Books” basket, Ruth VanRy won the “Garden Basket”, Carol Tefft won the “Christmas Basket”, Eleanor Bajohr won the decorative Christmas trees, Vanessa Loomis won the “Vampire Basket”, Juanita Collins won the “Smart Baby Basket” and Linda Roseman won the “Princess Basket”.

          The Friends who planned this sale deserve an extra thank you and they are Natalie Gustafson, Eleanor Bajohr and Mickey Kissane. They are an amazing trio of women who volunteer year round to keep our “Ongoing Book Sale” shelves stocked and to organize our annual sale. Mary Blanchard also deserves special thanks for her weekly sorting and shelf stocking efforts. Many additional Friends—Mary and Jim Murray, Ted Boutis, Claudio Paulini, Jean Smith, Norma Harling, Gisella Hammer, Chris and Jeff Crandall, Joyce Miller, Leslie McIntyre, Sharon Costie, Ann Pulverenti, Rita Smith, Laura and Carole Lang, Suzanne Amlaw, Mary Keck, Naomi Mayers, Barbara Woodarek, Mary Ramsdell, Jeanne Dunn, Pat Emmi, Linda Lake, Rosie Argentine, Ann Marie Rossi, Patricia Dickinson, Kari and Nels Youngstrom-- worked to set up the sale, restock and reorganize books during the sale, serve as cashiers, and help customers load their vehicles. We are grateful to each and every one of them for their hard work and dedication to our library. As in past years, seven sturdy display tables were generously donated by Tom Ralston of Ralston Supply Center, Inc. to hold all our books. We thank them for their kindness.

          This year some of the funds raised have been used to purchase an outdoor shed to store miscellaneous seasonal items like our garden bench, tax form racks, and artificial Christmas tree. This attractive, maintenance free shed was just delivered to the back corner of our parking lot.

          As we enter this season of thanksgiving, I am personally grateful for the extraordinary efforts of our Friends and thank them for being so generous to our library. I also wish to thank everyone who donated materials to our sale, everyone who made purchases at our sale and our terrific library staff members who provide excellent service each and every day.



Most Sincerely,

Liz Metzger
Director of the Canastota Public Library