President's Letter Dear Friends of the Newark Free Library, As we end the fiscal year, I started thinking about all the programs and activities FNFL has sponsored through generous donations. I am thankful for a very active and talented board and other Friend volunteers who have planned or helped in any way. It is great to have creative, dedicated, and hardworking library staff, board members and other Friends work together on these projects. We recently had our annual Friends meeting/brunch that was attended by about seventy people including board members, elected officials, and other notable guests. Diana Brown, the Community Services Manager for New Castle County, was our guest speaker who then introduced Charles Wray, one of the architects for our new library. It is exciting to learn about all the trends in libraries. It was wonderful to see the many familiar faces of library supporters that are active in the community. We elected and welcomed two new board members: Darin Powell and Roberta Sullivan. Roy Lopata, Katy Ferraro, and Deb Morehead were re-elected for an additional term.
Mary Ann Gladnick was also honored for all she has done. She is stepping down after serving on the board for the maximum years allowed by the bylaws. She has had many different roles on the board including planning the annual meeting & brunch and coordinating and distributing about 2,000 gently used donated books to places like the Hudson Center, YMCAs, and daycare centers in the area. She also served as Vice President and volunteered at most events the Friends sponsored. Thanks to all who planned and attended the annual meeting/brunch. The board continues to fund various music programs, the Library of Things, and other library requests. Check out the Newark Free Library sites on Instagram and Facebook and the monitor and posters for all the great programs and activities the library has to offer. In March we hosted our first chi Another historical fiction book about the courage of the DuPont children and life at Eleutherian Mills by Dr. Holland called The Great Explosion was distributed to classes and/or libraries in nearby schools. They were grateful to receive these books since many fourth graders recently visited Hagley to learn about Delaware history. We are looking forward to more author events and book giveaways made possible by the Dianich fund later this summer. On July 22 author Kimberly Black is scheduled to present her non-fiction book Hernandez Finds a Friend written for younger children. It is a story about horseshoe crabs. The author will also conduct a writing workshop with the same theme for older children.
Jitterbug group preschoolers received Board books from the FNFL to supplement many of the songs they sing in the Jitterbug group. On August 18th author and juggler Lois Hoffman will present her book Don’t Touch That, Oscar for young children and then the Hoffmans will do their juggling act. All children will receive an age-appropriate book. The library staff is planning some other events and the Friends are planning to give away books. We hope you will join us for these special children’s events. Thanks for your continued support to make these programs possible. Thanks for being a Friend. Barbara Jo German, President of the FNFL |
Judy Taggart was honored in a special way for all her years of service to the Friends of the Newark Library. In the above photo, Pam Stevens, NFL Manager, State Sen. Dave Sokola, Barbara Jo German, FNFL President and Judy Taggart meet in Dover at Library Legislative Day to build support for libraries in Delaware. Click on the link to read the
ldren’s author event sponsored by the generous donation from the Dianich family. Dr. Ilona Holland read and discussed her historical fiction book The Lost Locket of Lewes. After the reading there were hands-on follow up activities related to the book. All children attending received a signed copy of one of Dr. Holland’s books. We even had a cake with a picture of the book. Fifty peopl
