• Show Up To Support Library Funding for 2009 and 2010

  City Council members are coming to our communities this month to ask us about our budget priorities and we need to tell them how much we value the library.  The meetings will be May 20, May 22, and May 29 from 5:30 to 7:30pm.  Our voices heard now will impact library funding in both 2009 and 2010.  Please consider speaking in support of the library at these informal events.

  These budget meetings open with an overview of city finances and a budget forecast for 2009-2010.  Then a microphone is informally passed around for public comments on your budget priorities.  It’s an approachable and easy forum for speaking.  Services that win good funding support are usually represented in these meetings.  This year let’s make sure the Library is there too!

  The meetings will be:

  20 May            Ballard Northwest Senior Center            5429 32nd Avenue NW

  22 May            Highpoint Community Center              6920 34th Avenue SW

  29 May            Rainier Valley Cultural Center           3515 S. Alaska St.

  You don’t have to live in these neighborhoods to participate and speak.  There will be at least two other people there speaking for the Library, so you won’t be alone, but we need more voices to be heard.

  Can you help us?  Please let us know at advocacy@splfriends.org.  Or, just go!

• The Calendar is Back!

  Click here to check upcoming dates - book sale, branch openings, annual meeting - it's all there.  Stay informed.

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• We are Live!

  Can't get down to the Central Library to pick up the perfect gift? Then shop online. The FriendShop now has its own e-commerce site, www.efriendshop.org. Both the Shop and the Web site are full of Seattle Public Library custom items, gifts for readers and book-lovers and much more. Check them out!

  Like the Shop, the e-site relies on help from our loyal volunteers. Our e-commerce volunteers contribute photography, writing and editing.  If you would like to assist in building our Web business, please contact friendshop@spl.org.

  

  Find great items such as this SPL Book Tote with '07 Summer Reading Project artwork available online.

• The FriendShop needs volunteers to staff our retail shop at the Central Library in downtown Seattle. Make new friends and meet interesting people from all around the globe.  Days and times are flexible, so please contact the FriendShop.

  

  

The Friends of The Seattle Public Library is a non-profit, grassroots organization dedicated to promoting our Library as an essential institution of society. Our volunteer members advocate, educate, and raise funds on behalf of the Library, its patrons, and the larger Seattle community.

The Friends have been supporting the Seattle Public Library since 1941. Today, we have 13,000 members.

The Friends believe public libraries are essential to our society. Public libraries, like public schools, are part of the bedrock that supports American communities. They inform and educate, they encourage the exploration and discussion of ideas, and they bring together people from all walks of life.

The Friends are involved in these core activities:

• The Friends support the Library as it strives to provide outstanding library services to Seattle-area residents. We promote awareness of the Library in the community and encourage use of Library services in our neighborhoods.

• The Friends conduct advocacy efforts on behalf of the Library, as well as fund special Library programs and services. We keep city officials informed of Library needs and were instrumental in ensuring the passage of a major library bond issue that today is transforming our Library system. Recently, the Friends provided funds to begin a cultural communities outreach program based at the Beacon Hill.  Additional programs are under developement for Seattle neighborhood libraries.

• The Friends serve the wider community through our twice-yearly book sales that make available to the public thousands of books, as well as art and music goods, at exceptionally low prices. The book sales are a cultural institution in Seattle and are the preeminent means by which the Friends raise funds for services.

• The Friends host visitors, patrons and out-of-town guests at our FriendShop, located inside and to the left of the Fifth Avenue entrance of Seattle's spectacular new downtown Central Library. All FriendShop profits are used toward enrichment and benefit programs.

The Friends of The Seattle Public Library operate an innovative 300 square foot retail shop in Seattle’s Central Library. The shop is the public face of the Friends and represents our longstanding commitment to serve The Seattle Public Library. Shop revenue supports programs, services, events, and special initiatives of The Seattle Public Library.

Shop hours are:
Monday through Friday: 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Saturday: 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Sunday: 1 - 5 p.m.

learn more ..

The Friends of The Seattle Public Library holds two major book sales each year. At each sale, over 200,000 books and other items are offered to the general public, including:

* Art prints and posters
* Audiocassettes
* Books
* Compact discs
* Computer software
* Records
* Sheet music
* Videocassettes and DVDs

Next Book Sale:    April 11-13, 2008

Most books cost $1.00, but the sale also features "better books" including recent releases, and rare and collectible books, which are available at affordable prices even though they are higher priced than the majority of books. The price of other items varies, but all are "good deals."

learn more ..