Year In Review

By Elizabeth Hein, 2018-2020 President of the Friends of the Durham Library

The Friends of the Durham Library support the library in three ways: staff proposals, ongoing programs, and staff scholarships. In 2019, the Friends funded $10,500 in special staff projects that helped drive innovation and excellence across the library system. Those initiatives included: Joel White’s Books in Barbershops & Salons, which provided books to read while waiting for barber or salon services, and Leander Croker’s Reaching Students Where They Are, which brought seven additional programs to the MakerLab. Every year we support ongoing library programs, such as Durham Comics Fest, Summer Reading, and Durham Reads Together. We were also happy to give Graceon “Gracey” Gordon our annual Friends Academic Scholarship to complete her Master’s degree in Library Science.

In 2019, the Friends spent $40,537.61 on programming and staff development.

None of this work would have been possible without the help of the generous Friends who keep us rolling. We appreciate everyone who became a member of the Friends, donated books, bought books at our regional book sales, and came to our big book sales at Books Among Friends in Northgate Mall.