News of the Friends
September 2024
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
The picnic table on the Meekins Library lawn: a meeting place for friends, for kids and parents after visiting the library, for after-school buddies on their way home. Critical to running the library? Maybe not. But part of what puts the Meekins at the heart of our community? Definitely. When the old picnic table rotted away, the Friends of Williamsburg Libraries stepped up. Our fundraising efforts include soliciting votes for the Florence Bank Customers’ Choice Community Grants, and together we purchased a new table.
At the heart of our fundraising, though, is you: your membership dues, and perhaps your volunteer efforts in support of the annual Fall Book Sale and other initiatives. Please help now by renewing your membership—or joining the Friends for the first time! The Friends are dedicated to supporting the mission of the Trustees and the Library Director. Yes, town appropriations pay for salaries and utilities, and the Trustees’ Annual Fund drives help meet the library’s operating budget and purchase new materials. But these funding sources are limited, leaving the library with unmet needs for ongoing programming, technical updates, furnishings, and enrichment of all kinds.
That's where the Friends of Williamsburg Libraries comes in, and why your annual membership is needed. In addition to the picnic table, in 2023 – 2024 the Friends paid for the popular museum passes program—free/discounted admission to 12 locations like MASS MoCA, Eric Carle Museum, Springfield Museums—funded AV equipment to enable hybrid community meetings and live events, supported the Summer Reading Program for children and adults, provided treats for the library’s Halloween offerings, treated library staff and volunteers to an Appreciation Luncheon—and more!
To renew your membership for 9/1/24 – 8/31/25, please click https://www.meekins-library.org/Pages/Index/194237/join-the-friends to access our online membership form. You can either print it out and mail it along with your annual $20 (or more!) donation, or give online via PayPal by clicking the link on our Join the Friends page or the membership form.
Gratefully,
The Friends of the Williamsburg Libraries
P.S. Mark the date for our annual all-members meeting: Tuesday, September 24, at 7 pm in the Meekins Hawks-Hayden Room. Our guest speaker will be former long-time Library Director Lisa Wenner on the history of the Williamsburg Libraries. We hope to see you there!