BBQ, Books and Volunteers

Our meeting was a huge success. Our president welcomed all members and guest.  Mary welcomed back members who had not attended in a while: Sandy, Joel, and Theresa. The business part of the meeting went quickly with minutes being read and treasurer's reports given. Judy Epps talked about our scholarships fund which is on the way to two this year. Yea!  Mary also thanked those members who brought stuff for the Teachers' Closet. Those who forgot, like me, can bring school supplies at the next meeting. Then, Reading Partners from our organization were recognized. Mary also announced that the media specialist at NC Creative Arts Elementary needed help. This librarian
has been overwhelmed and needs help reshelving books. That is always quite a task.
Judy was called upon again to introduce our guest speaker: Brittany Mathis. She is the director of Friends of the Library. She is originally from Seattle Washington. Friends is a non-profit which raises funds to support our Charleston County Library programs. Our library has about 7,000 programs. The money is raised through book sales. There is one this weekend at the Otranto branch. Another fund raiser will be April 9 from 5:30 to 8:00 at the beer garden downtown. You get a free beer when you donate a book. Sounds like fun.
The library hosts many special events: Black Ink for to showcase local African American authors. Terry McMillan spoke at this event.
The Big Book Sale will be at the Omar Shrine Temple. It is a four day event and 300 volunteers are needed.  Boy, that is a lot of needed people.  I did join and mailed my form Wednesday. There is also a need for board members. So if anyone is interested let Brittany know. Don't forget to donate books. The age of the book does not matter.
After our speaker had answered a few questions we had our blessing. Then we partook of the delicious BBQ meal prepared by Jamie Westendorf. It was very, very good. We will keep him in mind for next year!
Looking forward to seeing everybody at our April meeting.