Friends of CML

Community leaders from throughout central Ohio gathered on the front lawn of the Columbus Metropolitan Library to participate in a fun-filled event to raise money for the Columbus Kiwanis Foundation and the Library’s award-winning Summer Reading Program. Each participating organization is issued a small wooden yacht, which they race across a 6 foot swimming pool using power squirt guns.  The double elimination event is high energy, exciting and guaranteed to bring some laughs. The Friends of the Library participated again this year; Friends trustee, Susan Meyer, decorated the yacht and fellow Trustee, Todd Suddeth, raced it.

Ohio Library Council has awarded FOL the Ohio Friends of the Library Recognition Award. The OLC acknowledges the extraordinary people and organizations that make Ohio libraries great. According to the OLC, “The 2011 Awards and Honors winners have demonstrated outstanding leadership, exceptional achievements, and remarkable dedication to providing the best library service to their communities.”

Don’t miss PBJ&Jazz at the Topiary Park this Saturday, August 13th. Storytime at the library starts at 11:00; Jazz starts at noon. Jazz 4 Kids’ Erik Augis, Lisa Clark and Friends will be performing. Click here for more details.

Check out these photos of the new reading room at Columbus Commons! The Friends have supplied the books and we hope you will enjoy reading at the new park. Join us for the grand opening and a special storytime Saturday, May 28 at noon. See www.columbuscommons.org for more details on the park and its events.

Before we close the book on 2010, the Friends of the Library want to say “thank you” to everyone who helped make 2010 such a memorable year for our beloved library. From passage of the November levy to being acknowledged as the 2010 Library of the Year by Library Journal, the support of our Friends played a critical role in helping the library realize these important achievements.

So whether you volunteered as part of the levy, renewed your membership, increased your membership level or encouraged someone else to become a Friend – thank you. FOL exists to advocate on behalf of the library and to support critical and innovative programs that make our library system the best in the nation.

Following is a brief video featuring Pat Losinski, executive director of the Columbus Metropolitan Library, accepting the 2010 Library of the Year award.

With such great visibility of our Issue 4 “Keep Our Library Strong” yard signs (as well as other candidate and issue-based yard signs), be sure to do the right thing by recycling them now that election day is behind us…and consider offering to do the same for your neighbor.

SWACO - the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio – will be collecting political yard signs this Saturday, Nov. 6, from 8 a.m. – noon at the Ohio Historical Center.  There’s no charge for the service. The signs can be dropped off in the north parking lot of the Historical Center, off the 17th Avenue exit of Interstate 71. Recyclers can follow the green signs marked “SWACO Recycling Event” starting at 17th Avenue to find the spot.

The Friends of the Library is proud to support Teen Read Week. Author Pete Hautman is in Columbus visiting some of our branches.

Pete Hautman is the author of more than twenty novels for adults and teens, including the 2004 National Book Award winner Godless, and three New York Times Notable Books: Drawing Dead, The Mortal Nuts, and Rash.

Hautman is known in adult fiction for his poker-themed novels (Drawing Dead, Short Money, The Mortal Nuts, Ring Game, and The Prop) as well as several other crime novels. 

His young adult and middle-grade novels range from science fiction (Rash, Mr. Was, and Hole in the Sky) to mystery (“The Bloodwater Mysteries”) to contemporary drama (Godless, Sweetblood, How to Steal a Car, The Big Crunch, and others).

With novelist, poet, and occasional co-author Mary Logue, Hautman divides his time between Golden Valley, Minnesota, and Stockholm, Wisconsin.  His latest books are Blank Confession (November, 2010) and The Big Crunch (January, 2011). 

Learn more about Pete Hautman on his website: www.petehautman.com.

If you’re a Friend of the Library, then you have first dibs at the BIG BOOK SALE’s pre-sale for Friends only — which happens tonight (Thursday) from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.

The sale opens to everyone beginning tomorrow and runs through Sunday.

Hours are 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. on Sunday.

For more details on the BIG BOOK SALE, check out our post below.

Suburban News Publications published this story last Friday about the upcoming levy:  

Library levy campaign will focus on maintaining quality (Sept 10, 2010)

It is worth noting that the same article previously appeared in SNP editions under the headline:

Columbus library campaign to focus on ‘excellence’ (Aug. 31, 2010)