Friends of the Library Bookworm Fall Issue November 2012 President’s Letter New Workroom Information Dear Friends: Phone 478-745-2422 There are only 5 months until our next big Sale in March of 2013. The dates are March 21- P O Box 18175 24, with the preview Sale on March 20. We will return to the Macon Centreplex again , as this location was enjoyed by the majority of our customers. We are well on our way, with Macon, GA 31209 over 1500 boxes of books already priced, boxed and packed in storage. Our volunteers con- tinue to work diligently every Tuesday and Thursday at our workroom in the Riverstreet 2720 Riverside Dr. Corners location. Our new workroom location has improved our efficiency greatly. As we continue to provide major support to our public libraries, we also have found more Suite 129 ways to support the literacy effort in our community. We recently made a $500 donation to the Central High School Book Club , a $2500 donation to the FERST Foundation for Macon, GA 31209 Childhood Literacy, donated books to the DISMAS charities, Bibb County Law Enforce- ment Center, and are working with the Daybreak ministry for the homeless. Email: Info@ Our next Sale promises to be bigger and better than ever and it is always a challenge for our friendsofthelibrary- volunteers to get set up in a timely fashion. In order to save money, we will be accelerating macon.com our setup time. We will begin setting up tables on Monday morning March 18, and have all the books arranged on the tables before 5 PM on Wednesday, March 20. It will take more volunteers than ever before to accomplish a timely setup, so please plan to turn out to help us this year and invite your friends and neighbors. Our setup can be a fun event in itself. Thank you for continuing to support the Friends of the Library through your membership. We are pleased to continue our support for the Macon-Bibb County libraries and the litera- cy effort in our community. Remember, a strong library system is one of the cornerstones Membership of a strong community Benefits Andy Newton Invitations to Mem- bers Only parties and sales Access to visiting au- thors and programs Membership in Friends President Andy Newton Friends book clubs presenting a check for $72,000 to and book review club Mr. Thomas Jones, Director of Opportunities to vol- the Middle Georgia Regional Li- unteer brary. Free admission to Friends sponsored Events Page 2 Bookworm History of the Friends of the Library History of the Friends of the Library “History is the witness that testifies to the passing of time; it illuminates reality, vitalizes memory, pro- vides guidance in daily life, and brings tiding of antiquity”. Cicero 106BC – 43BC While we don’t consider our Friend’s history to be “antiquity” there is something to be said for Cicero’s quote. History certainly illuminates reality, vitalizes memory and provides guidance in daily life. This is the first of a series of articles tracing the history of The Friends of the Library during the period 1966 -1973. Due to space limitations in the Bookworm, it was decided to present this history in a series of articles rather than one condensed ver- sion which would risk omitting important facts and periods of time. The primary source document for this article is the report: A History of the Friends of the Library, 1966 – 1973 which begins with the statement, “In February of 1966 a dozen Macon ladies gathered in the home of Mrs. Abbott Frank to discuss the inadequacies of the library facilities in this community, and how to effect improvements”. Thus began a movement which culminated in the creation of the organization we serve today, The Friends of the Library. The following are condensed ex- cerpts from this report to give a high level overview of the key events of the times. Paragraphs below are included in quotes and italics to convey the point that the ideas and the form of presentation are excerpts from the 1973 report and not my origi- nal work. “After much discussion and planning, it was decided to develop a “Friends of the Library” chapter and petition the courts for a legal charter. A charter was developed, put into legal form as a corporation by attorney John Comer and signed by Judge Oscar Long thus incorporating the organization for a period of thirty five years. The key purposes for which the corporation was formed were: ▪ To create public interest in and support for the tax-supported free public libraries operating in Bibb County ▪ To promote increased knowledge and understanding of library services and needs ▪ To promote a memorial gift program for said libraries ▪ To receive and maintain a fund of real or personal property or both, and to use and apply the whole income form said funds for the purposes stated herein. The Charter was signed by the following: Mrs. Waddell Barnes, Mrs. Gerald L. Bartels, Mrs. Abbott Frank, Mrs. Charles Goff, Mrs. Jackson Holliday, Mrs. Bayne Mallory, Mrs. Joseph Massey, Mrs. Jack McKay, Mrs. Monroe More, Mrs. J. E. Oldham and Mrs. Giles H. O’Neal. The charter meeting of the Friends was held at the Hay House, May 8, 1966. A nominating committee was then created to develop a slate of officers for the coming year: Mrs. Frank Abbott, President; Mr. Herbert Birdsey, Vice President; Mrs. Gerald Bartels, Secretary; and Mrs. Marvin Coddon, Treasurer. Those named to serve as Directors for three years were: Mr. William Crawford, Mrs. Giles O’Neal, Mr. William Davies and Mr. J. Sewell Elliot. Directors to serve two Years were: Mrs. Jack McKay, Mrs. Jackson Holliday, Mrs. Steve M. Solomon III and Mr. Albert Reichert. After acceptance and approval of these nominates it was decided by the new Board of Trustees that the first order of busi- ness must be the abolition of the old Board of Trustees of Washington Memorial Library. Mrs. Ellen Bellamy had given Washington Memorial Library to the City of Macon in 1916, and in her will stipulated that the Library Board was to be self-perpetuating. Long after there were other libraries in the community, the city had never chal- lenged this stipulation, and had permitted all libraries to be governed by a Board which had no legal status and no right to receive or spend State and Federal Monies. Fall Issue Page 3 Memorials and Honorariums History (Cont’d) In memory of: Frank Amerson by John and Marjie Reehling The new President, Mrs. Frank Abbott and their attor- Dr. Ben Bashinski by John and Marjie Reehling ney, John Comer took their request to abolish the existing Board to Mayor B.F. Merritt, who agreed that a legal Palmira Braswell by Connie Sealy process must be initiated to change the administration of the libraries. The Mayor appointed Mr. Tom Bass, who Wilber Coggins, Jr. by The Hays Family restructured the Board, making it representative of the whole region with seven members appointed by the Ma- Mrs. Ovella Inman by Dr. & Mrs. Jerry Gaines con City Council and two by the Bibb County Commis- sioners. Mr. Bass’s recommendations were adopted by Purvis, M.D Sr. & Families the City Council. Thus a new era for Macon’s libraries was established by the friends of the Library. Albert Jelks by Larry & JoAnn Caldwell The second big undertaking by the Friends was to awak- Dr. William Jerles by Joan Huffman en all of the community to the urgent need to improve the condition of our libraries and to ask them to petition the Frank Jones by John & Marjie Reehling City and County for more funds for expansion of all li- brary facilities. An “illustrated slide commentary” was Elizabeth Mathews Parker by Mrs. Lee P. Oliver, developed with impressive pictures of what Macon had to Jr. offer and what other communities such as Columbus, Augusta and Savannah already had. There were pic- Dolph Proskauer by Gail Moon & Larry Caldwell tures showing parking facilities, reading space, maga- zine departments and auditoriums, accompanied by facts Honorariums: and figures which were staggering to most Maconites. Since Macon had never had proper libraries, the people Sally Heard by Kathleen G. Maxfield were completely unaware of what a library should really be, and what it should do for the community.” Cacky Newberry by Pat Boyd In the next edition of the Bookworm we will cover how the Friends of the Library began to develop effective programs of outreach into the community including the annual booksale which has provided so many valuable resources for the library system. Memorials and Honorariums In Honor of: In Memory of: Donor’s Name: Address: Send acknowledgement to: Address: Friends of the Library P.O. Box 18175 Macon, GA 31209 Friends of the Library Non-Profit U.S. Postage Paid Mailsort Macon GA 31201 E-BOOKS NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE Middle Georgia Regional Library (MGRL) continues to look to technology to provide modern services to the citizens of our county by offering e-books online. According to instruc- tions at the website: www.co.bibb.ga.us/library/ Ebooks.htm, in order to check out e-books, you will need a PINES library card from MGRL, your library card PIN num- ber or password (obtainable in person from library staff), and an e-reading device or computer. What is presented below is a general summary of the aforemen- tioned webpage. Readers are highly encouraged to visit the link above when they are ready to open an account and use this service. The webpage has many of the details necessary for accessing the service including a brochure of in- structions for loading e-books to specific devices.