Introducing the Friends’ new Co-Presidents pro tem: George Hajek and Ann Denton.
We have been fans of the Easton Public Library ever since we moved to Easton from lower Manhattan in 2019 and picked up our new library cards, becoming active members of the library’s Beyond Reading book group and volunteering our services for the Friends.
George is retired from a career in the financial technologies sector, and Ann is a retired college professor. We will continue to bring our skill sets and energy to the Easton Library’s Friends. George has already been working diligently on our website.
Although we still remain long-term members of the Friends of the New York Public Library, when we moved to Easton, we were very impressed with the depth and breadth of the Easton Library’s programs and services. The quality of offerings our library provides to the Easton community is quite extraordinary, thanks to our director and dedicated staff, but also due in part to funding provided by the Friends.
In December, the Friends funded a gingerbread-making session for our young people, as well as sponsoring a gingerbread house competition for the community as a whole. Our annual holiday market and tree-lighting event is also funded by the Friends. A special thanks to Kelly Skarupa for organizing these holiday programs which enhance connections within our community.
Here are the pictures of the winning gingerbread houses:
1.) Ages 5-10 Best in Show: Jessica and Elliot Stoller
2.) Most Traditional: Moose Lodge by Jill & Elizabeth Kimball
3.) Most Creative: Eras Houses by Rani & Saira Menon
Special thanks are also due to former president Beth Cliff, who brought the Friends back to life over the past three years and worked tirelessly to raise funds to support thelLibrary’s programs.
For the second year in a row, the Friends baked Valentine’s Day cookies for the library staff — an event we call “Love Your Librarians Day.”
The Friends support other community-building events, and we fund acquisitions that cannot be covered by the library’s limited budget. For example, we recently approved funding for the purchase of a new set of phonics books that align with updated local school curriculum. We engage in fund-raising to support such initiatives as the Summer Reading Program, the One Book One Town initiative, and the purchase of a collection of museum passes, which are available to the whole community.
Coming up, the Friends will be participating in Library Giving Day on April 3, a national initiative to support libraries. We are also scheduled to hold our used book sale the last weekend in September. We are always open to suggestions for ways in which we can be useful to the community, and we welcome your input and participation. For more information about the Friends and our activities, email us at friends@eastonlibrary.org or you can visit our website: https://www.eastonlibraryfriends.org/
