Published: June 03, 2009 12:20 am      

Friends of LaVale Library active, but group hopes for new blood

Related coverage:

April 8: Taube said Friends might dissolve

Feb. 15: Friends donates to LaVale Library TeenSpace

LAVALE — The Friends of the LaVale Library will go on after all. But Mary Jo Kraft said she and the steady presence of seven others can’t do it by themselves.

“We need new people with new ideas,” said Kraft, Friends president. “We can’t continue on with the same people indefinitely. I do not want to see the whole group disappear.”

That’s nearly what it came to when Allegany County Library System Director John Taube revealed in an early April public meeting that the organization was having difficulty recruiting new officers.

But a recently completed membership drive and raffle has interest at a recent high and a balance of about $6,000.

Taube said Kraft, citing health concerns, might not continue to lead the committee. A meeting between the two earlier this month clarified Kraft’s position that she will stay on as long as necessary — and as long as her health holds out.

“We do have a wonderful library there,” Kraft said. “That’s why I would like to see new people coming in. I’m a firm believer that you can’t go on forever under the same leadership.”

She understands, however, that most folks have time constraints.

“People have so many things to do today,” Kraft said. “It makes it difficult to try to get everybody.”

As new volunteers are recruited, there’s plenty for Kraft and others to do. Committee co-chairwoman Elaine Ruppert, Bob Swan, Marie Shipley, Margy Snider, Ellie Booth, Bob Phillips and Doris Kolb assist with landscaping the library grounds. The group, which has not yet attained nonprofit status, also sponsors guest speakers, purchases books and helps with storytime hours and the summer reading programs. Members also donated funds toward renovations as part of the library that’s now just for teens.

Pam Neder, LaVale branch manager, said it’s “very important” the organization remain solvent. She spent 13 years at the Westernport branch without a similar support group. For half of the past six years that she’s worked in LaVale, the benefits of a Friends group to her are obvious.

“They’re helping us with purchasing things (for) the library that we might not get as quickly without their help,” she said. “We value their presence in the library system.”

And those people come from all over, Kraft said. Friends members currently reside in all parts of Allegany County as well as Garrett County and Mineral County, W.Va.

The group is structured under the Allegany County Library System. If it attains nonprofit status, members would be part of an independent organization. If the group does dissolve, Kraft said the balance of funds would likely go into the library system’s general fund with no clear direction on how those funds would be spent.

“I would hope that it would be used to purchase whatever essentials are needed at the LaVale Library, because that’s what the designation was for,” Kraft said. “We do keep a record of all monies donated and membership fees. We can provide that to anybody.”

Taube said the system’s Board of Trustees has an agreement with Friends of the Lavale Library, a subcommittee of the county library system, that ensures any funds designated for the LaVale branch will be spent on that facility.

There is a sliding fee scale for five types of membership, which include student, senior, member, family and corporate. For more information, call the LaVale Library at (301) 729-0855.

Contact Kevin Spradlin at kspradlin@times-news.com.