Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Happy New Year!

Wishing you a very Happy New Year!  

The Friends of the Holyoke Public Library had a very successful December, with many sales of ornaments, afghans and other Friends merchandise. We completed an inventory today and have deposited the sales income into our bank account. Thank you to all who purchased gifts at the Library this month.

Friends Book Sale; Afghan; Cabinet of Friends merchandise for sale

Thank you also for visiting our used book sale, which will continue into the new year. We are delighted to report that this new initiative, launched December 1st, has now earned enough income to cover the set-up costs (purchase of bookcases and the pay-box). We passed the break-even point on December 28.  Money collected from now on supports our mission.

Thanks to such fundraising we are able to contribute funds to the Library. For example, we delivered a check for $3,179 today to the Holyoke Public Library to "sponsor" a year's worth of these significant subscriptions:

  • Ancestry.com - Library Edition (accessible on computers in the Library)
  • Heritage Quest Online (accessible at Library and to library-card holders at home)
  • Miss Humblebee's Academy, an early literacy program accessible on computers at the Library and to library-card holders at home).

Saturday, December 12, 2015

Gifts available

We are offering for sale many items appropriate for gifts in the holiday season.

The Friends cabinet is full...
and Friends volunteers will be in the Library lobby today (Saturday Dec 12) 1:00pm-3:45pm and Monday 3:00-6:00 pm with a table display.  Please come by!

Monday, December 7, 2015

Ornaments for sale

Click on image to enlarge

These historical Holyoke ornaments designed by the Friends of the Library are for sale at the Holyoke Public Library.  Prices are $14 (top row) and $18 (ones with red ribbons).

Each brass ornament (top row) is finished with 24k gold and comes in a velour holder with a brief description of the significant Holyoke building or scene depicted. From L to R above you can see the Holyoke Opera House, Scott Tower, the Library, Holyoke City Hall, and the Elizur Holyoke car of the Holyoke Street Railway. We also have the Holyoke Dam.

The colorful ornament on the bottom row shows one of the stained glass windows in City Hall (1876). It comes in a box with a description of its history.  The silvery ornament celebrates the Holyoke Train Station (designed by famous architect H.H. Richardson).


You can see additional Friends merchandise, including the popular Holyoke Tapestry Afghan ($50) and several historic books ($20 each), displayed near the Circulation Desk in the Library. Come shop for gifts in the library!  Members of the Friends will be on hand at certain hours in this holiday season, but at any time the staff at the Circulation Desk can assist you in purchasing these specials items.  Proceeds of the sales benefit the Friends of the Library.  Thank you!

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Book Sale in Library

A new initiative is underway:  the Friends launched a self-serve BOOK SALE within the Library this morning, December 1, 2015.


Suggested Prices:
  Hard cover books –  $1.00 each
Paperbacks –  50¢ each

We encourage re-use of these gently-used books. Please come see the selection, and make your choices. Drop your payments (cash, or check made payable to Friends of the Holyoke Public Library) into the "Please Pay Here" box in the center of the display.   Donations above the "suggested" prices are welcome, of course.  This is a fund-raiser for the Friends.

Friends volunteers will restock the shelves weekly. We have a large supply of good books that were donated this year. Although many were sold at the successful September 18-19 sale at St Paul's Church, but many boxes of books remain. We have thousands (!) of books awaiting sale. Instead of planning another big-event book sale, we have decided to try a small-scale book sale that can be on-going. It is "open for business" during all Library hours.

This model – a book sale run on the honor system with a pay-box nearby – has been used successfully by many other Friends of Library groups that raise money to support their libraries. We hope the idea will succeed here.

Proceeds from the sales will help us provide future support for this Library.  For instance, the Library Director and the HPLC Board of Directors requested this fall that the Friends "sponsor" (cover the cost of...) an impressive new software program in support of early literacy. The Friends Board voted November 23 to pay $1200 for Miss Humblebee's Academy, which is accessible to families via computers at home and in this library. We also voted to continue our sponsorship (almost $2K per year) of the very popular genealogy/history databases Ancestry.com and Heritage Quest Online. 

When YOU buy a used book from the Friends,
you are helping us fund these library resources. 
THANK YOU!