Library Director Jerri Hawkins and Friends of the Guthrie Center Library pose with the computers made possible with a Guthrie County Community Foundation and Grow Greene Grant and matching funds from the Friends of the Guthrie Center Library. Pictured are Jerri Hawkins, Debbie Menning, Leora Laughery, Mary Leighty, Melia VanMeter, Dr. Steve Bascom and Becky Carico.
By Karen Kelly | Special to the Times Vedette
Oct. 20-26 is National Friends of Libraries Week. For any library, this is an important week, and this is the case for the Mary J. Barnett Memorial Library. We want to thank the members of our Friends of the Guthrie Center Library for their steadfast support of our library.
For those of you who don’t know much about the Friends of the Library, the group is composed of people from our community who value our library and want to support it any way they can. What this often means is fundraising to allow the library to acquire things that are above what we have the budget to provide. Sometimes the friends volunteer to help with special projects like decorating for our festival of trees, straightening shelves, or handing out treats at our annual Boo Bash. The Friends are the monetary sponsors for the library’s Iowa Libraries Adventure Pass.
Because of their fundraising, the library has acquired the electronic message board on Fifth Street. They matched funds with a Guthrie County Community Foundation and Grow Greene Grant to allow us to update computers for public and staff use. The very building that houses our library is in large part here because of their fundraising and dedication. Currently, the friends are fundraising to repaint the donor mural in the children’s section of the library.
Those of us who use the library appreciate the Guthrie Center Friends of the Library daily, but we want to take this time to thank all former, current and future Friends of the Library for your contributions to our community through our library.
Anyone who would like to have more information about becoming a Friend of the Library, please email, call or stop by the library. We welcome everyone who would like to join.
Story Hour
Our preschool Story Hour is every Friday at 10 a.m.; this Friday’s story hour will feature spooky books and crafts. Halloween will be the focus of Oct. 25.
Iowa Libraries Adventure Pass
The Friends of the Library sponsor the Adventure Pass for local library patrons. Currently, we have adventure passes for Blank Park Zoo, Science Center of Iowa, and Des Moines Children’s Museum. Library patrons 18 and older may use their library card to check out a pass to participating locations through the library’s website. Check out our website for more details.
Programs
On Saturday, Nov. 9, Michelle Cowan, an Iowa author, will present a book talk at 10 a.m. Cowan will discuss her book “Better, Not Bitter,” which is currently available to check out at the MJB Library.
Cookbook Club
Thursday, Oct. 17 at 6:30 p.m. will be the regular Cookbook Club meeting. This month’s featured cookbook is “Good Lookin’ Cookin’ ” by Dolly Parton and Rachel Parton George. Stop by the library to choose a recipe
Boo Bash
The fifth annual Li-BOO-ary Bash, a not-so-scary Halloween celebration at the MJB Library, will be on Thursday, Oct. 31 from 5-7:15 p.m. Stop by our family-friendly event featuring games, a photo booth, a “spooky walk” and a treat at the end.