43
Photo
Neighbors | Jessica Harker.Representatives from the Friends of the Public Library provided gift wrapping for community members at the Boardman Barnes and Noble on Dec. 7. Friends members included, from left, (front) Wanda Smith, Bobbe Reynolds; (back) Development Director Deborah Liptak and Davida Perr-Taylor.
Photo
Neighbors | Jessica Harker.Members of the Friends of the Public library East branch from left (front) Wanda Smith, Bobbe Reynolds, (back) Deborah Liptak, the Development Director of the libraries, and Davida Perry-Taylor spent the day at Barnes and Noble in Boardman providing free gift wrapping for donations for the friends.
By JESSICA HARKER
Friends of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County set up a free gift wrapping station at Boardman Barnes and Noble on Dec. 7.
Volunteer friends from the East library hosted the event along with Development Director Deborah Liptak.
“We are asking for donations for the gift wrapping and that will benefit the Friends of the Library,” Liptak said.
Members of the Poland swim team also volunteered at the event, raising money for teen programs at the library branches.
“The friends are the glue that holds the library together,” Liptak said. “So many people volunteer their time to support the library.”
Only three libraries in the Youngstown Mahoning County area have their own Friends of the Library program. All libraries other than Austintown, Boardman and Poland are part of the Friends of the Youngstown and Mahoning County library network, which benefits all of the libraries.
“We are unique because we have a network of libraries that support each other, no other library in the area has this its very unique,” Liptak said.
During the event, Barnes and Noble also donated a portion of sales of books and coffee from Starbucks for community members who said they would support the program.
All proceeds from both went to supporting library programs.
“We really want to encourage as many people as possible to be a part of the friends, they are the libraries number one supporters,” Liptak said.
Joining the Friends of the Library group is $10 and includes monthly meetings with guest speakers. To join, community members can contact the development office of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County or fill out an application online at www.libraryvisit.org.
“The friends are the libraries main representatives, they understand the importance of the libraries and they want to see them continue,” Liptak said.