Pasta Dinner Fundraiser

Tickets are now on sale for a Friends of the Library Pasta Dinner on Thursday, October 13, 5:00 to 7:30 PM at the United Congregational Church, corner of Appleton and Maple Street, Holyoke. The dinner menu includes pasta with sauce, meatballs, grated cheese, rolls and butter, salad with dressing, beverage and dessert, all for $6.00 for adults and $3.00 for children four to twelve years old. Children three and younger will receive their meal free of charge.

All are welcome!   Invite your friends and family to come enjoy this meal and support the Library at the same time. A good cause!
All proceeds from the dinner will be contributed to the renovation and expansion of the Holyoke Public Library. Tickets for the dinner are available at the Holyoke Public Library and will be available at the door that evening. The United Congregational Church is handicapped accessible; enter by the side door from Appleton.  Ample free parking is located in the lot immediately across from Appleton Street, and in the lot behind the War Memorial. 

GALA plans expanding

Christine Alger, event chair for this fall's Holiday GALA, has called a planning meeting for Tuesday Sept 20, 5:30pm, in the Library Community Room.

There are some exciting new developments and a proposal to EXPAND the event in collaboration with the HPL Campaign Office. We're exploring whether the Library Building Project timeline would allow us to create a special event inside the 1902 Library just before the remodeling construction starts.

Same date (Saturday November 19), same caterers (Holyoke Country Club), but perhaps to be held at the Library.

Curious?  Come to Tuesday's meeting...  Help us make this a fantastic party.

Planning the big GALA!

Friends of HPL Holiday Gala party planning -- Tuesday, Sept. 13, 5:30p.m. in the HPL Community Room.   Come help with the planning for this festive party.   

This years event will be held in style at the Holyoke Country Club* on Saturday November 19, 6-11p.m.  Please mark your calendar now and SAVE THE DATE!

Help is always needed!  Raffle donations are great as well.  Feel free to contact the event chair at Chrialg6@gmail.com.   See the Gala on Facebook and the C.R.U.S.H. Events list.
*News-flash Sept 16:  Plans for this party are EXPANDING and the location MAY change to accommodate a larger crowd.  Save the date, but stay flexible about the location. 

Join Friends at the Block Party

Come find us at the Great Holyoke Block Party, which takes place on Saturday September 3rd on Chestnut Street at Veterans Park in downtown Holyoke.  The Friends of the Library will have an information table. Drop by and say Hello!   Help us promote the Library, and the Friends group, to the public.

This is the 3rd year of Block Party; here's the exciting schedule:

11-12       Tours with MIFA at the Victory Theatre (81-89 Suffolk St)
11:30        Parade around the site with Expandable Brass Band
12-12:45  Carpe Diem (Cover Rock)
1-1:45      Katelyn Richards (Rock)
1:30         One Mile Walk around the area with the Holyoke YMCA
1:45-2      Tango Performance with Veronika Kruta
2-2:45      Dicey Riley (Irish Rock)
2:45-3      Expandable Brass Band (Activist Street Band)
3-3:45      Shawn Patric Project (Blues)
4-4:45      Evelyn Harris (Soul/R&B)
4:45-5      Holyoke YMCA-Zumba!
5-5:45      InterTrip (Jazz)
5:45-6      Grupo Folklorico (Traditional Puerto Rican Dance)
6-6:45      Toussaint the Liberator (Reggae)
6:45-7      Artistic Dance Conservatory
7-7:45      DJ Jay One (Dance)
8-9:00      Conjunto Barrio (Latin)

[Rain date Sunday September 4]

$13,476.85!

That's the total amount we earned for the Library during the Gala event "The Future Begins Here" held May 1 at the Holyoke Mall. The check came this week, reports Tim Damon, President of the Friends.  Tim wrote yesterday:

"A very sincere and heartfelt THANK YOU to all of you who helped make this years Future Begins Here event our best year ever! The Friends of the Holyoke Public Library earned a grand total of $13,476.85! Congratulations on a very successful project. These funds will be used towards the Friends pledge for the Library Building Campaign. I look forward to your continued help and participation in the future. Please join the Friends at our next meeting August 10 at 5:30 at Career Point, 850 High St, Holyoke."

Silent Auction

A big THANK YOU also to all the businesses and individuals who donated items for the auctions, sponsored tables, and invited colleagues and friends to come. We could not have had such success without you.

Delicious food prepared by chefs!

Anne Gorman, María Pagán, and Wanda Myslek
at the completion of the gala event, May 1.

Holyoke Public Library Day!

The Holyoke High Marching Band performed at the Library this afternoon and Mayor Elaine Pluta proclaimed today as Holyoke Public Library Day!

This was the Campaign Kick-Off for the Library for the 21st Century.

There was much GOOD NEWS to share as the public phase of the fundraising campaign was launched. Peoples Bank has pledged a generous gift of $200,000! The Davis Foundation is giving $100,000. The Friends of the Library were thanked for making an early pledge of $100,000. In all, behind-the-scenes fundraising over the past two years has already accumulated an impressive total, reaching 1/2 of the total goal of $2.5 million!  

Rory Casey and Terry Plum showing the progress to date.

Library Campaign leaders posed for pictures

We look forward to breaking ground on the significant library renovation/expansion project in October.

Friends President Tim Damon and Board Member Migdalia Thomas

Exciting week for Library Friends

There are TWO events of note this week for the Friends of the Library:

the first Board meeting with the newly-elected board members (Wed, June 8, 5:30-7:00 pm at the BOAT HOUSE, Jones Ferry River Access)

and

the Capital Campaign Kick-off Event Thursday June 9, 4:00-6:00pm, at the Library.   Join us!  The Holyoke High School Marching Band will play, the Mayor and others will speak, and we'll all be invited inside for a reception.  

Please come and bring your friends!