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Date: 6/13/2022
LUDLOW – The Ludlow Public Library has a long list of events and activities it wants to offer the community but there aren’t enough people to pull some of them off.
“We have a high demand for things the library wants us to get involved in but first we need more members,” said Allie DeLong, president, Friends of the Ludlow Public Library.
The Friends have a long history of supporting the library, but recently membership has been waning. Less than a year ago the Friends was a group of three – a treasurer and two members. Since then, membership has soared and there are now 16 Friends, but that’s still not enough.
“If we’re going to support a lot of programs and activities, we need to keep building our membership. Many hands make light work,” said DeLong.
The Friends raise money all year to support library activities and programs. The group’s core mission is “to foster community support for the library and to help make the library a better place to visit.”
“That means getting people to care about the library and to use it. We support the library financially and we turn to the public to help us fulfill this mission,” said DeLong.
DeLong is trying to spark a resurgence of members and she’s asking people in her community to be a Friend. “We’re really in a renaissance and a rebuilding stage. We want the library to be a friendly environment where people feel welcome when they walk in, to get a positive feeling from being here,” she said.
The idea of hosting a carnival has been floated to raise money, but that takes months of planning and a slew of volunteers to make it a success. DeLong said the Friends can’t shoot that high – not yet anyway. She’s more inclined to raise money by selling snacks and refreshments at the summer long series of movies. It won’t raise as much cash as a carnival, but with a small group of volunteers, it’s easier to pull off.
“That’s not months of planning with teams of volunteers. That’s go to the store, get some supplies, show up at the movies and sell your concessions,” she said.
Friends have traditionally supported summer reading programs and purchased $400 passes library patrons can use to get into museums for free. The Friends also offer general financial support when the library needs it to run events, buy equipment and purchase a host of other items on a growing shopping list.
“People tell us they love the library. If you love the library, we want people to consider giving back some of that love by supporting the library and joining the Friends,” she said.
The typical commitment of a Friend is to attend one meeting a month and help at two or three events a year. Each event requires a commitment of one to three hours of time.
For more information or to join the Friends call 583-3408 or send an email to LudlowLibraryFriends@gmail.com.