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Ladies for literacy
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.The women who attended the Ladies in Little Black Dresses for Literacy event on June 9 at the Lake Club visited the vendors tables.
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.A 50/50 raffle was available for the guests to participate in during the literacy fundraiser put on at the Lake Club by the Literacy Society committee on June 9.
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.The women who attended the Ladies in Little Black Dresses for Literacy event on June 9 had the opportunity to meet with other women and discuss their favorite books and authors.
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Neighbors | Alexis Bartolomucci.Those who attended the literacy fundraiser were asked to bring in a copy of their favorite book or one by their favorite author to swap with the other guests.
By ALEXIS BARTOLOMUCCI
The Literary Society for the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County hosted a fundraising event on June 9 at the Lake Club in Poland.
The fundraiser was called “Ladies in Little Black Dresses for Literacy,” and was to raise money for the Literacy Society. The women who attended were asked to wear their favorite little black dress and to bring in a copy of a book by their favorite author to swap with the other women attending. Guests could also bring in new or gently used children’s books to donate for the summer reading program.
“Black symbolizes the print you read in a book, that’s why it’s black dresses for literacy,” said Debbie Liptak, the development director of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County.
There were about 200 guests who showed up to the fundraiser. Guests bought tickets prior to the event and the price of the tickets included heavy appetizers. Upon the guests’ arrivals, they received a complimentary class of wine, a drawstring library bag and entered in the chance to win a door prize.
“This is our first time, it’s a huge success. The people love it, they’re all wearing black dresses,” said Liptak.
Three boutiques set up tables for the guests to visit and shop. E.J. Hannah, Suzanne’s and Ivory and Birch offered to give 10 percent of the money they raised to the literary society. A few of the women who attended the event wore dresses from the vendors to do some “informal modeling.”
Liptak thought of the idea in January and the Literary Society started planning for the fundraiser at the end of winter. The money for the Literary Society is used for the famous authors the libraries bring in as guests.
“We’re so excited to see the support of the literacy for the library,” said Liptak.