Summer 2024 Friends' Update
A Quarterly Look at NCLF & How we're Supporting our Library
Dear Friends,
A warm summer ‘Hello’ to each of you. On behalf of the board, I hope you and your family are having a great season - enjoying the long, bright days and avoiding the worst of the heat.
I’d like to start this newsletter with a few thoughts on service. Libraries in general - and ours in particular - are exemplars of service within their communities. From providing knowledge and info, to programs and hands-on learning opportunities, to being one of few places people can “just be,” these institutions are bastions of community spirit and mutual aid.
Unfortunately, many libraries - again including ours - are struggling right now. Between perennial funding challenges, patrons’ needs and expectations shifting alongside media preferences, and direct attacks on the first amendment principles under which they operate, it can be difficult to keep these important institutions vital and community-facing.
The Friends play a crucial role in enabling our library to meet all of these challenges. We serve because we believe that good libraries are an essential part of good communities. We serve because it’s fun and rewarding to come together with others on behalf of an historic institution that means so much to so many. And there is always more to do!
The Friends Board needs members with passion, ideas, and a little bit of time to join us for next year, so we can continue contributing to our great library and finding new ways for members to have fun doing so … Please consider coming to an upcoming meeting to see how. (The Friends’ schedule for the rest of 2024 is at the end of this post.)
Thank you so much for being a supporter of New Castle Public Library - please enjoy this season’s update.
Fond regards,
Matt Alexander, President
Join our First ‘Give%20’ Fundraiser at Iron Hill Brewery!
Have Dinner with Friends or Dine Any Time on 8/28
Save the Date! On Wednesday, August 28, the Friends are having our first-ever “Give%20” fundraiser at the Iron Hill Brewery restaurant at the River Walk in Wilmington. (Perhaps you’ve heard of events like it before, where you just enjoy a nice meal at a favorite restaurant and coincidentally support a great cause.)
Participating is simple - just:
Visit Iron Hill Brewery in Wilmington any time on 8/28 for a delicious meal,
Show the digital flyer below to your server, and
Iron Hill will donate 20% of your bill back to the Friends!
Members of the Friends board and some frequent volunteers are planning to reserve a table around 6pm. If you’d like to dine when we do, we can try to reserve a section - please email us if you’d like to come so we can gauge how big of a reservation to make.
But remember: You can dine any time on 8/28. So please, mark your calendar and enjoy a great meal for the Library!
Note: You must take the flyer. NCLF can not distribute the flyer on the premises and asks that supporters also respect the fundraiser guidelines. It only counts if people arrive already planning to support the Friends and ready to do so.
Thanks to Iron Hill Brewery for inviting the Friends to participate and hosting this event at their Wilmington, DE, location: 620 Justison Street, 19801.
Want to get there by bike? Check out the Jack A. Markell Trail map here.
Friends To Join New Castle Saturday Market Starting 8/17!
Maybe you’ve heard the buzz about the latest Historic New Castle event - the New Castle Saturday Market occurring on The Green each week from 9am to 2pm. With fresh vegetables, artisan food and treats, craft and service vendors, and more, the markets have been getting a lot of attention and attracting growing crowds since they debuted on July 3.
Starting on Saturday 8/17, the Friends’ Book Sale team will be joining in the fun! With a stall at the new market (no cost to us as a local non-profit), we plan to:
Represent the library and the Friends, with info about programs, services, upcoming events, and chances to get involved,
Offer a small selection of gently-used books for sale,
Offer our Friends Tote Bags for sale, and
Continue to give away free books to kids!
The first few weeks will be a test - the main goal is just to get out there and engage with our local community. We hope to meet some great people, share about our library, make a few young readers happy - and maybe even make some new Friends!
We won’t be advertising much, as we don’t want to create any impression of a major book sale that might disappoint folks who show up. Like Art on the Green, putting ourselves in front of the crowds already there is the main idea. However, if things go well, future weeks could include bigger, genre-specific sales that we then might advertise. (Mystery Week, Sci-Fi Week, etc.)
Please reach out to us if you’ve got ideas for this venture, or if you’d be interested in volunteering at the Friends booth at the New Castle Saturday Market… Or just come by some Saturday to say hi and hang out for a bit!
Book Sales & Raffles Continue to Grow
Art on the Green is Coming Up! … Plus, a Separation Day Sale Recap
Following a fantastic Separation Day Book Sale in June (more on that below), the Friends are excited to be joining the Historic New Castle Hundred Lions Club for the Art on the Green Art & Crafts Show once again this year!
This annual event in Battery Park enables the Friends to reach thousands of potential supporters for our library - and to raise thousands of dollars from book sales. Especially given the beautiful books on crafting and ‘The Arts’ we have received over the past year, Art on the Green is a great event for us and we are so grateful for the Lions’ continued support!
Art on the Green is Saturday, September 28, from 10am to 4pm - find the Friends’ tents in the corner by the Food Pavilion along 3rd Street…. And we will need volunteers! If you’re able to help out (for about two hours at a time), please reach out to Susan by email. Thanks!
Now, as promised…
The Separation Day Book Sale was another wonderful event this year thanks in large part to the fantastic parade and its crowd, which was bigger than recent years thanks to the weather finally cooperating. While we have no official count - it would be impossible for such an event, with people browsing right on the street - many hundreds of people, at least, stopped by to interact with the Friends and the wonderful library we represent.
Over Saturday and Sunday (which was slower but still worth the open hours), our intrepid volunteers sold hundreds of raffle tickets, dozens of Friends’ Tote Bags, and over a thousand gently-used books, raising over $2700! This eclipses last year’s already-impressive fundraising total from the same event by more than $100.
Congratulations and thank you to the many Friends and volunteers who make this continued success possible, and to Raffles chair Jenn Ramsdell, and Book Sale co-chairs Susan Swansburg and Rob Wingle!
Raising the Raffle Bar
As described above, after a lull following the well-earned retirement of long-serving raffle master Jeanne-Marie Camac, Friends’ Raffles have again become a central part of our book sales’ fundraising success in 2024. This is thanks in large part to Jenn Ramsdell, the board’s newest member and new Raffles chair.
Beyond just a way to raise a bit more on items that don’t cost the Friends much (or anything), Jenn has a vision of raffles as celebration of the wonderful New Castle community around our library. For Art on the Green and beyond, she wants to “highlight local artisans and vendors in our raffle baskets.”
The Friends are so grateful to the many local businesses, organizations and individuals that have already supported our raffles with great, often hand-made items and generous gift cards - some repeatedly! They include:
Trustee Michael Alfree,
and so many more (sorry we can’t name you all here)!
As she seeks to keep improving our Raffle offerings, Jenn plans to continue highlighting New Castle and other local subjects, and to focus on seasonal offerings as well. For example, she says, “for the Winter Market baskets I want to highlight the holidays, being cozy, family time, and food.”
Finally, for Friends who may be able to help out, Jenn offered a list of “items needed to enhance our raffle baskets (all items in good condition with minimal to no wear and tear):”
baskets of any size (but especially large baskets),
unused candles,
stemware,
serving platters,
unusual or ornate Christmas ornaments,
a flower vase,
gift cards for local venues, shops, restaurants, or artisans,
fancy oils, spices, honey, and syrups,
cocktail/wine/beer related items, and
knickknacks, tchotchkes, small items that you are ready to part with but still have life in them.
Like book donations, baskets and boxed items may be left for the Friends by the elevator at the library. To arrange a donation of items that should not be left out, please contact Jenn by email. Thanks!
Odds & Ends: Summer Goings-On at New Castle Public Library
Here’s just a quick list of some of the great programs and events that have been happening at New Castle Public Library this Summer, and how the Friends contribute…
Children’s Vision Clinics held in partnership with Vision to Learn Delaware have been a huge success and keep going strong, helping to connect local kids with eye exams and glasses (if needed) at no cost, all right at the library. NCLF has contributed gently-used children’s books so that Vision to Learn can send kids home with something to read after their vision check!
The Fourth Friday Art Loop has come to the library, with NCPL featuring works by local artists and a hand-picked selection of books including fiction, mystery/suspense, and, of course, books about Art! The library even has its own signs as an official Art Loop stop, thanks to the Arts Committee of the New Castle Historical Society. (The Friends helped with the aforementioned hand-picking.)
With the Free Summer Meals Program, a partnership with Colonial School District, the Library has hosted bi-weekly lunches for school-aged kids, helping local families ensure their children enjoy good nutrition throughout the no-school season. Friend and New Castle city councilman Brian Mattaway has been an instrument and a champion of the program (along with much else at the library).
Library on the Loose is a great program that’s brought the library right out into two of New Castle’s ‘outer’ neighborhoods - Dobbinsville and Buttonwood. With free children’s books, lots of community info, and chances to meet local police and check out their squad cars, it’s been a hit with kids!
A ‘Glow Paint and a Movie’ event last week got local teens laughing together while also getting their creative juices flowing.
Finally, the Community Collaboration of Delaware has just announced their latest ‘collab’ with our library: the CCD HOPE (Healthy Options for Prevention Education) Program! From CCD’s news release on 8/5:
“Thanks to generous grant funding from the City of New Castle, this evidence-based prevention program will be made available to a cohort of 7th grade students living within the city limits of New Castle during the Fall of 2024… The HOPE Program, designed to educate adolescents on resisting substance abuse, will consist of 11 weeks of comprehensive lessons (one lesson each week) from September through December at the New Castle Public Library. CCD is proud to offer this valuable resource in partnership with the New Castle City Police Department and the New Castle Public Library!”
We love being a part of such a great community institution… and are so proud of the work being done by New Castle Public Library’s phenomenal staff! Visit the library’s website to check out the calendar of great programs & events.
Still to Come in 2024
Check the list below for board meetings and book sales remaining in 2024... Meeting dates are subject to change. If you’re interested in attending, please give us a head’s up so we can include you in case that happens.
Though it is not on the chart, if you can, remember to please join in the Friends’ Give%20 Fundraiser at Iron Hill Brewery on Wednesday, August 28th!
And please email us if you can help at next month’s Book Sale at Art on the Green, or with our new table at the Saturday Markets. Thanks!
Thanks for reading, and for your support of New Castle Public Library!
