Friend the Library!

This week is National Friends of Libraries Week, which means it is the perfect time to celebrate and tout our very own Friends of the Berryville Library group!

Our library couldn’t do everything we do for the community if we didn’t have our tireless group of Friends and advocates. For several years now they have funded our mobile hotspot program, reading incentives for our summer reading program, and all the supplies and new plants the Master Gardeners request for the garden outside the library. This year they also provided funds to help us update the teen area and make it much more teen-friendly. They also add to the fun we can generate by hosting several fundraising and friendsraising events each year, including author talks, raffle sales, and bake sales.

In fact, they’ve been a leading driver behind our campaign to build a new library. Since April 2021, we have now raised 94% of the $3.5 million we need for a new library. That’s over 3.25 million dollars raised in 3.5 years in an incredibly small and rural county in Arkansas. That’s amazing, and we’re so proud of our Friends and so appreciative of everyone who’s helped us along the way.

But it’s not over yet! We still have that little bit left to raise.

And we also still need Friends!

An active, thriving Friends group is immensely helpful to us as we continue to pursue these last dollars. That’s a metric that lets foundations and grant-makers see that we have organic, enthusiastic support within the community for our work. We have 183 Friends currently, and we can always use more! There are lots of easy ways you can help!

• Renew your Friends membership or join for the first time! You can stop by the library or join/renew online. Our memberships start for as little as $10, but we have several levels. For $25, you and your family can join together. For $50, you can be a Friends with Benefits, which means all your library late fees are waived. For $500, you can be a Best Friend Forever and never again worry about paying annual dues! We also have $100 business memberships. If you’re a business owner, this is a great deal! We work closely with our business members to promote them.
• Attend Friends events! Our annual meeting is coming up on November 7, we will be co-hosting a First Friday coffee with Hidden Treasures on December 6, and we will also have our annual holiday bake sale on December 13. Please stop by and say hi!
• Volunteer for the Friends! We have a lot of fun, and we can always use more helping hands.
• Donate to the capital campaign! As we’ve been saying for years, no amount is too small or too large! We’ll be sending out our end-of-year giving letter soon, and we’d appreciate if you’d donate to the building fund. You can also set up recurring monthly donations, which is a wonderful way to sustain us through these final stages of the fundraising campaign.

Libraries need Friends, and the Berryville Library needs you!