22-05-2025
LGL: Friends of the Erie County Public Library
Borrow a book, buy a book, or share a book. It all happens at the Erie County Library. And this week, the Friends of the Library got a visit from Loving Giving Local.
There is so much more to the Erie County Library System than just books. But it's the books that keep the place going. Thanks to a volunteer group called the Friends of the Library.
'This is kind of a community center as I see it. It's a place where people can enjoy lifelong learning. You hear the pitter-patter of little feet coming in. Parents and grandparents bringing their kids in, but also adults come in, and they can learn all kinds of wonderful opportunities. learn through the idea lab, how to make things, even how to start a business,' said
Many of those opportunities are not funded by tax dollars. That's where the friends come in. They've been helping support programs since the 1980s.
'We're kind of a merry bunch of volunteers. None of us are paid staff. We've got probably over 400 members who help us with our book sales, they help us in our store, they help us collect books,' said Marcy Bencivenga of Friends of the Library.
Those donated books from the public are sorted and recycled at a number of used book sales throughout the year. The next one is the Great American Book Sale at the Flo Fabrizio Ice Center. Mark your calendar, June 15-19. Here you can pick up a summer of great reading for just a few bucks.
While it's the friends that raise money for the library, it's the library director and staff that decide where to spend it.
'So we use that funding to do programs for children, to do our regular story time, to fund things that happen in the idea lab,' Jessica Spitulski, Erie Co. library director. 'All of the programming that the library does is funded by the Friends, and so we here refer to them as the fairy godparents of the library because they're the ones that help us create the magic.'
The friends got a helping hand in the form of a financial donation from Loving Giving Local.
'Well, the Friends of the Erie County Library have been in our community for over 40 years. So, for us to be able to deliver them a donation today, and learn today, this donation we bring will go into one of their youth programs, that's what Loving Giving Local is all about,' Joe Askins of Auto Express Resale Center went on to say.
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