Friends of the Longmont Library report steady sales, face board turnover and volunteer recruitment needs

Friends of the Longmont Library completed their fourth wholesale sale of the year and reported modest results while experimenting with new fundraising ideas; the group also announced board changes and asked for help recruiting volunteers to sustain sale operations.

Friends organizers created about 23 themed gift baskets of books and coordinating items, priced generally around $25; staff and volunteers reported the Friends sold 22 of the 23 baskets during the sale. The organization said final sale totals were still being calculated and that the group hoped to exceed $10,000 for the sale cycle but that this particular sale felt somewhat dampened compared with prior events.

At the meeting, staff reported turnover on the Friends board: the membership coordinator, Linda Stewart, and the treasurer, Frank, submitted resignations. Staff said that, temporarily, the friends' president would assume treasurer tasks and that other board members may share membership tasks, but the Friends need to recruit people to fill those roles. Volunteers with institutional knowledge — particularly those who help physically move pallets of books and manage point-of-sale equipment — were highlighted as hard-to-replace roles.

Board members and staff discussed options for recruitment, including reaching out to high-school volunteers seeking community service hours and clarifying which tasks can be done virtually or in smaller, decoupled roles. Staff asked advisory-board members and others to suggest prospects for volunteering or board service.