Our annual meeting

Book sale volunteers needed

On Tuesday, the Friends held our annual meeting where we reviewed our business activities for last year and planned for this year. We’d like to share some of our accomplishments from last year with you.

  • The Friends resumed business operations while the library is closed by holding our Board and committee meetings via Zoom.
  • We suspended our online book sales in March, but due to some quick thinking and flexibility, our Amazon store was back open and selling in May. In fact, we sold 540 books and DVDs in 2020, which is not too far from our sales in previous years.
  • We launched Bag ‘O Books sales in the spring and fall, selling more than 160 total bags of books. This provided needed materials to the community and made progress on our mission of raising funds to support library programs.
  • We accepted donations of books from the community from August through November in coordination with library staff and based on Washington County safety guidelines. This kept material coming in for the Friends and supported those of you who might be doing some purging at home.
  • The Friends donated $500 to the library to support the Tween Reader program where local tweens can earn free books for reading aloud to a friend, family member, or family pet. For more information about this great program check out the Tween Readers page on the City’s website.

Big thanks to all who donated books, purchased bags of books, shopped our Amazon store, or joined the Friends.

Continue ReadingOur annual meeting

Volunteers needed for 2019 Fall book sale

Book sale volunteers neededVolunteers are needed for the Fall book sale, November 1-3, 2019.

We need volunteers to help with the set-up of the sale Friday morning and the take down on Sunday afternoon. During sale hours, we need volunteers to support the cashiers by tallying up sales and also to assist our customers on the sale floor. Set up for the sale will occur on 11/1/19, 9 am – 1 pm. Shifts through the weekend during the sale are for 2-3 hours at a time.

Sale hours are:

  • Friday, November 1st, 2 – 6 pm (members only for the first hour)
  • Saturday November 2nd, 10 – 4 pm
  • Sunday November 3rd, 1 – 4 pm

We’ve automated sign-ups with Sign-Up Genius, an online volunteer recruitment service. Sign-Up Genius is easy and you don’t need an account with them to use it. Here are the steps:
1. Go to our page on Sign-Up Genius:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70a0c4aaeab2babf94-fall1

2. Scroll down the page to see what time slots are still open.
3. Click the “Sign Up” box for any shifts you would like to sign up for. You can sign up for multiple shifts if you’d like.
4. Click the “Submit and Sign Up” box at the center-bottom of the page

If you prefer to sign up via email, please contact us.

Continue ReadingVolunteers needed for 2019 Fall book sale

Friends named Volunteer Group of the Year

Exciting news for our hard-working group of volunteers! The Friends of the Tualatin Library has been named the Outstanding Volunteer Group of 2018 for the library and the city! We were honored at the Volunteer Appreciation event at the Juanita Pohl Center on Monday, April 8th. Mayor Frank Bubenik said our group “truly makes a world of difference.”

Our President, Laura Baker, said “We are incredibly fortunate to have the support and recognition we enjoy from the library staff.  I know this isn’t why we do what we do, but it’s nice to be recognized every now and then and certainly nice to be a partner in supporting the library. Thanks again to all of our volunteers for your hard work and dedication.”

In addition to the group award, Kay Kendall was named Outstanding Adult Volunteer for 2018 at the Volunteer Appreciation event. She serves a special role in the Friends of the Tualatin Library organization – researching and repairing books. She has also installed literary displays for the library lobby display case. Congratulations, Kay!

Continue ReadingFriends named Volunteer Group of the Year

Art display by Molly Burns at the library

This week our very own long-time Friend, Molly Burns, has a display of her digital art and poetry in the display case in the Tualatin Library lobby.

Molly calls her work “digital” art because she creates it with her Samsung tablet and the Samsung SketchBook app. With SketchBook, you can draw with a stylus (or your finger), add color, import images, and add text. Molly is both an artist and a poet, so her work typically includes both images and words. After creating an art piece on the tablet, she takes it to a local print shop for color printing.

Inspiration for Molly’s art and poetry comes from a variety of sources. “Sometimes it comes from little memories that pop into my head,” she says. “Or news that I read or just some little thing that happens. Then I experiment.”

Molly’s art will be on display through Sunday, April 21. We hope you have a chance to stop by and see it!

Continue ReadingArt display by Molly Burns at the library