Friends Buy Books for the Library

Friends Buy Books for the Library

It's easy to overlook how much the Friends do for our library in Evansville.  As is the case in most small towns in Wisconsin, times are tight and so is our city's budget.

To alleviate a possible EFPL budget deficit at the end of 2009, the Friends donated $991.85 to the library to pay for new books that had been ordered from two major vendors.

A Little History....

A Little History....

For those who aren't Evansville, WI residents, here's why our public library is called "Eager Free Public Library".

Over 100 years ago,  Mr. Almeron Eager, a successful Evansville businessman and state legislator, donated $10,000 in his will (he died in 1902) to fund a public library building in his home-town.  His bequest specified that two conditions be honored:

     a. the library was to be named "Eager Free Public Library", and

     b. a statue of Mr. Eager was to be created and placed in the library building.

Both conditions were fulfilled, and the building was completed in 1908.
 
In 2008, the library celebrated its 100th anniversary.  Many of Almeron's descendants attended the celebration, most of whom still live in Evansville and the surrounding area.  Pictured below is Almeron Eager's statue, and flanking him are two of his great-great granddaughters, dressed in costumes of the period when the library was founded.

A detailed history of the Eager Free Public Library is available at http://evansvillehistory.net/EagerPL.html

Success!

Success!

Wow! The Friends' first Winter Used Book Sale was more successful than we expected.  We raised more than $650 from sales and welcoming new members of the Friends.  

And it was just fun to see so many adults and families coming in to the library and leaving with bags of cheap books, magazines, videos, cd's, etc.  We had buyers from Edgerton, Madison, Janesville and McFarland, as well as Evansville.

Thanks to all the Friends' volunteers who worked so hard to prepare for and clean up after the sale.  

If you've been reading the blog, you know that the Friends just installed some new lighting in a basement storage room.  After the sale, we cleaned out that room of old stuff (some was just deemed to be junk) and used the space to store our boxed-up unsold books until our summer sale in August.  Of course, we'll have more stock by then from new donations.

High School Study Nights

High School Study Nights

Last Thursday and Friday were semester final exams for Evansville High School.  For the last several years, the Friends have been offering Study Nights at the Eager Free Public Library just before exam time.  We hold the library open from 8 pm to 11 pm on Wednesday and Thursday nights, only for high school students who want a safe, quiet place to study for their finals.  We have chaperones and healthy snacks available for the kids, as well as all the resources of the library at their disposal for reference.  


Attendance has been growing as the word gets out.  We hope we're contributing to the students' academic by offering this program.  

Lights ON!

Lights ON!

There's a store-room in the basement of EFPL, inside the boiler room. Most library patrons don't even know it's there.   It's hard to see what's in the store-room, because there is no light, except what comes in through its door from the dim ceiling light in the boiler room. And that's pretty dim.  Some old files are stored in there, and some junque (IMHO)  So it's not very useful.

We all know that the library is cramped for space, and so the Friends decided to make this store-room more accessible.  The Friends paid an electrician to install a bright switched fluorescent ceiling fixture and two electrical outlets in the store-room.  The work was completed this week.

Now it will be much easier for the library staff to see to sort through the room's contents and decide what to keep, what to discard, and how to use the room in the future.

This is another example of your membership fees and the money we make from our Ice Cream Social, Book Sales, and Pig Receipts, being used to support your library.  Thanks for all your generosity!

Winter Used Book Sale

Winter Used Book Sale

Volunteers have been working hard to get ready for the Friends' first-ever Winter Used Book Sale.  It will be held on Saturday January 23, from 8 am to 1pm.  Cider and cookies available.

Being a member of the Friends has its privileges!  Members can attend a special PREVIEW sale on Friday Jan 22nd from 4:30 to 7:30 pm.  Get first crack at the books, enjoy snacks, companionship and cool jazz.  If you'd like to join the Friends to come to the Preview, you can do so at the door.  Memberships range from $5 annual individual to $100 lifetime.

Best Recent Books -- Lists

Best Recent Books -- Lists

This time of year you can find all kinds of "Best Books of 2009" lists on the web.  I have looked at a few, with the intent of seeing if the books listed were actually available to EFPL patrons.  It turns out that not many are in the EFPL collection itself, BUT, and this is an important "but" in times when library budgets are under strain, every book I checked was somewhere in the Arrowhead Library System, with most being at the two largest libraries in Janesville and Beloit, as you might expect.

So if you want to read any "Best Book" on one of the lists, use the EFPL website to get into RockCat, the online catalog of all the books in ALS, where you can request that a copy be sent to EFPL.  You'll be notified when it arrives.

IMHO, RockCat is a wonderful, innovative service for EFPL patrons.  Use it.