Do you love your library? I do! When my family moved to Gettysburg twenty years ago, my wife pregnant and our daughter just two-years-old, the library was the first place we found community. It’s the place we met our first local friends, many of whom we still hang out with today. And my relationship with the library? It just keeps getting better with age. I work here; I participate in library programs; and I volunteer with the Friends of the Adams County Library System.
Yes, I am a Friend of the Library. And you could be too.
The library system has three Friends groups: Friends of Littlestown Library, Friends of Trone Memorial Library, and Friends of Adams County Library System. The Littlestown and Trone groups raise funds to support those two specific libraries, and the Friends of Adams County Library System provides financial support to the entire library system. All told, the Friends groups donated over $80,000 in funding to the library system last year.
Our three Friends groups raise money through annual membership dues, book sales in branch book stores (Gettysburg and Trone), book sale fundraisers (Gettysburg and Littlestown), fundraising appeals, and through special fundraisers across the course of the year—the most remarkable being the Littlestown Friends’ twice-annual soup sale—ten years and counting. Every February and October, they sell homemade soup by the quart. Last year, they sold 848 quarts!
To learn more about all our Friends groups, visit this page on our website: https://www.adamslibrary.org/fol
Because I’m the Treasurer of the Friends of Adams County Library System, I want to talk about two exciting FOL events this spring and summer:
We Friends are furiously planning for our annual Summer Book Sale Bonanza at Redding Auction House on July 24, 25 and 26. In two and a half days, we hope to sell tens of thousands of books currently stored on thirty shipping pallets. Last year the sale earned over $30,000, selling books for two dollars, one dollar, or fifty cents. Like every other year, we will offer free books for children and teachers attending the event.
Also, right now our annual membership drive is on-going. Through June, all new and renewed members will receive a coupon for a free book from the Gettysburg Library Book Store, and will be entered in a drawing to win a $50 gift certificate to buy books at our store or book sale. At $0.50 – $2.00 per book, that’s a LOT of books. To join the Friends of the Adams County Library System, click this link: https://friends-of-the-library-bookstore.square.site/.
Lastly, I’ve been Treasurer of the Friends of Adams County Library System for five years. It’s time to pass the torch. If you love the library and have an aptitude for numbers, send me an email. I’d love to chat about the duties, time commitment and rewards of serving as the Friends’ Treasurer.
Jeff Cann
Finance Director, ACLS
Treasurer, ACLS FOL
jeffc@adamslibrary.org
Jeff Cann lives, works, and writes in Gettysburg Pennsylvania. His essays and stories have appeared in Like the Wind magazine, the Good Men Project, and other websites exploring mental health, running and culture. His two books, Fragments: a Memoir and Bad Ass - My Quest to Become a Back Woods Trail Runner (and other obsessive goals) can be purchased from Amazon.
Jeff is married with two adult children. When he isn’t working or writing, he can be found biking or running the roads and wooded trails surrounding Gettysburg, trudging to and from work with his Spotify playlist cranked to eleven, or reading novels and biographical essays. Additional essays and stories can be found at www.jefftcann.com.