Looking for something to occupy your time during these cold, winter months? Consider joining Friends of the Bridgeport Public Library! Our Friends group is made up of library lovers dedicated to helping the Bridgeport Public Library achieve its goals. They volunteer their time, skills, and resources to help the library during special programs and events, they publicly support and advocate for the library's mission and goals, and they wish to see the library succeed and function as an active part of that success.

 

The Friends’ mission is to raise public awareness in the community about the library, to support the services and programs facilitated by the library, and to contribute to the overall strategic goals of the library. The Friends actively support the Bridgeport Public Library in its mission to meet the personal, educational, cultural, and professional information needs of the library community.

 

Being a Friend also comes with special perks, a sense of volunteerism, and knowing you have helped the library achieve its goals. Some specific perks include Book Sale vouchers, appreciation dinners and raffles, community outreach programs, meeting other volunteer-minded individuals, and helping build a more literate, informed, and connected community.

 

Our Friends group was founded recently, in March of this year. We have around a dozen active Friends, and they have been involved in a variety of special programs, events, and volunteer projects. Our Friends have been a great help with stocking our two Little Free Libraries with books, shelving books and tidying shelves, packing seeds for our Seed Library, taking photos at our programs, reading stories for the now-retired Dial-A-Story, scanning historical documents and photographs, representing Friends at the Bridgeport Farmer’s Market, and much more! They have also helped with several library programs including our Local Author Meet & Greet, Chess Club, Tech Savvy, Summer Reading Program Finale, Trunk-or-Treat, Murder Mystery Night, and their very own Friends Appreciation Dinner. They are also part of a special library initiative, Artist Spotlight.

 

We meet in person once a month, and we are always accepting new members! There is no cost to become a Friend. All we require is that you are at least 18 years old and have an active library card in good standing. Paper applications are available at the library, or you may access our online application by visiting bplwv.org/friends. If you would like more information about Friends, feel free to reach out to our Adult Services Coordinator, Angela, at 304-842-8248 ext. 5 or at aspatafore@bridgeportwv.gov.

 

Editor's Note: Shown are members of the Friends of the Bridgeport Public Library after their recent Friends Appreciation Dinner.