8The drawing for the Mineral County Friends of the Library Annual Raffle will take place at the May 14 meeting. Main prize is a portion of cash proceeds. Other prizes include a beautiful oil painting by Robert Boyd. Tickets sell for $1 each and are available at Mineral County Libraries in Hawthorne and Mina.

The annual raffle is just one of many fundraising projects. At this time of year, the Friends group is raising funds for the Summer Reading Program. The funds pay for new books, craft and snack supplies, and prizes that are given out through the summer to young readers. This year the library will be including adults in the fun reading lotteries. Ask staff for more information.

Friends of the Library sell donated books throughout the year, hold raffles such as the recent Easter basket raffle, sell T-shirts and book bags which promote Friends, and receive money donations from generous patrons. The group is a non-profit entity which exists to support the library in many ways. Past projects of the Friends include purchase of the following:  shelving for the Young Adult area; the copier; magazine and display racks; and the meeting room chairs. An ongoing project of the Friends is maintenance of the three very popular fish tanks.

Friends of the Library received a bequest from the late Norma Joyce Scott. The group is proud to be putting those funds to use by employing two Mineral County High School students as Library Pages. With all of these projects, one can see just how important it is to have a dedicated and enthusiastic Friends of the Library group.

Anyone can join Friends of the Library to have a voice and lend a hand in projects. Yearly membership is only $1. Meetings are held September – May on the second Thursday of the month at 1 p.m. Contact the library at 945-2778 for further information and to purchase your raffle tickets.