Friends of the Library


Andrew Carnegie
"A Library outranks any other one thing a community can do to benefit its people."
Andrew Carnegie

Board of Directors | Book Sales | Book Sale at South Mandarin
Books for Soldiers | Friends Addresses | Friend's 55th Anniversary
Got Books? | Mission Statement | Newsline | Volunteers


Book Sales

Friends of the Library Bookstore

3435 University Blvd. N.

 
9:00 to 12:00 every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday
 
Great bargains
Also Better Books and Books of Local Interest
Frequent restocking

South Mandarin Book Sale
   
FJPL accepts donations and memorial gifts on behalf of the Jacksonville Public Library.
   

Friends for Your Library? Would you like to establish a Friends of the Library group to support your neighborhood library? FJPL will try to help you.
Contact FJPL President Harry Reagan - Phone: 891-7582 or Email: harry.reagan@comcast.net

Help Jacksonville’s Libraries…
Support our petition drive

After several years of budget cuts, Friends of the Jacksonville Public Library and others concerned about the future of our library, started working on ways to achieve sustainable, dependable funding for our libraries.  The first step was an in-depth JCCI study, funded, in part, by FJPL.  That study recommended creating a special tax district for libraries and the first step is a petition drive for a straw vote on the next available election ballot (probably 2014).

FJPL is asking registered Jacksonville voters to sign a petition.
Petitions are available at our bookstores – in the Main Library and at University Park Library – and they’ll be available at our Book Warehouse Sale.
Besides signing a petition, you may be willing/able to help us by taking some petitions and getting your friends and neighbors to sign.
The Times-Union editorial below is an excellent statement of the situation we face. Please help us.

Harry Reagan
FJPL President
Harry.reagan@comcast.net


Jacksonville libraries need a
plan for an independent future
Posted: August 22, 2012 - 12:01am

For a city with severe reading issues, one would think that the public library system would be a major priority.

And it is, supposedly, but that’s only a surface reality. Beneath the surface, the library system is slowly deteriorating into mediocrity.

Let’s review the sad facts.

Roofs need repairs, for instance, but there is no maintenance budget.

The Northside would like its own regional library, but there is no capital budget.

The materials budget is being cut every year, so there are fewer items to meet demand that had been surging during the recession.

Hours are being cut. The next step — closures.

But wasn’t the library one of the centerpieces of the Better Jacksonville Plan? Yes.

And weren’t beautiful new structures built and old ones refurbished?

Yes, but the operating budget was not similarly protected.

And the library board, which ought to be guiding the system through these tough times, has no real independent powers. So the system can’t save revenues for capital or maintenance. It can’t even save its fine revenues, which go into the general fund.

Some of the library system’s issues are not connected to the recession. Just as brick and mortar bookstores are closing due to the digital revolution, libraries are facing some of the same pressures. Yet the vast majority of the library system’s loans are the old-fashioned kind: real books, CDs and movies.

But this crisis still is not fully realized by the people of Jacksonville.

Unfortunately, this message is not getting out to the people because the library’s condition looks OK on the surface.

If the roof is leaking, people won’t notice unless they see the water dripping into a pail.

If there are not enough books to lend, it won’t occur with a dramatic announcement, but it will just take longer and longer to get access to them.

So a group of library lovers helped fund a study by Jacksonville Community Council Inc. to look for solutions to this dysfunctional arrangement.

The conclusion was that the library system needs some independence. Accountability, yes, but not gridlock.

It may look like abandoning consolidation, but the proposal that emanated from the JCCI study is a thoughtful one.

The next step following the study is a straw ballot in the next local election. If successful, a binding vote would follow, then enabling legislation. This would be a lengthy process.

The district would be designed to fit into the Jacksonville culture.

Elected officials would serve on the board, for instance, not appointees. And there would be no additional taxes levied without a vote of the people.

But the keys would allow the board to plan, to make decisions, to get out of this cycle of gridlock.

Maybe the system can’t afford so many branches.

Maybe the next generation of libraries includes traveling librarians spreading the culture of reading throughout the city.

Maybe there are ideas we haven’t even considered yet, but they will never be imagined, much less implemented, without independence.

Libraries are just too important to the American ideal of universal education to allow them to wither.

Jacksonville should be leading the way to the new library future.

Right now, local libraries are just stuck. An independent board is needed to get them out of this rut.



Volunteers

8,324 volunteer hours in 2012!

Our volunteers worked a little over 8,324 hours in 2012.
  • They sorted books to get ready for our sales.
  • They worked at our Book Warehouse Sales.
  • They worked at our bookstores.
  • They advocated for our Library.

We are very proud of them and we invite you to volunteer with FJPL.
You will help our Library and you will have fun.

Contact Harry Reagan at harry.reagan@comcast.net or 891-7582.




Friends of the Jacksonville Public Library's 55th Anniversary

Three Cheers:
Library's Friends Mark 55th Year
The Florida Times-Union, Jacksonville.com, Posted: June 20, 2011 - 12:00am

There is no better friend than a friend of books. Perhaps it's because book readers have a broader world view. Whatever the reason, Jacksonville has been blessed to have had a strong Friends of the Library group for 55 years. What else in this town is still going strong after 55 years? Established on June 14, 1955, by the American Association of University Women, this group was instrumental in moving from the Carnegie library to the Haydon Burns Library, reported Friends President Harry Reagan in a news release.

Image of Anniversary Cake


 

Image of American Flag
Image of American Flag

Books for Soldiers

FJPL has started a new program,
Books for Soldiers.

We need donations to pay the costs of shipping books, tapes, etc. We also need your help to connect with men and women from the First Coast who are serving overseas.

If you know someone overseas, send us the name and address and we'll send a shipment to him or her.

Thanks,
Harry Reagan, President, FJPL

harry.reagan@comcast.net

Image of American Flag


Friends of Jacksonville Public Library


Yahoo Calendar of Upcoming Events


Got Books?

Books you don't need? Books you need to get rid of?

Bring them to Friends of the Jacksonville Public Library so they can be sold to raise money for our public libraries. Drop them off at any of Jacksonville's 21 libraries or bring them directly to FJPL at University Park Library, 3435 University Blvd. N. any Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday from 9:00 to 12:00.

Friends of the Library Mission Statement

FJPL is a 57-year-old non-profit organization. Our mission is to provide leadership, motivation and support to the Jacksonville Public Library, to literacy and educational groups, to all existing and potential Friends groups, and other library support groups to enable them to succeed in their efforts to preserve and strengthen libraries and to create awareness and appreciation of Library services.

To this end, FJPL holds Book Warehouse Sales several times a year at our Book Warehouse in University Park Library. We also have year-round sales at our two Friends of Library Bookstores – at University Park Library and at the Main Library.


Board of Directors - Officers
  • Harry Reagan, President
  • John Crescimbeni,Vice President
  • Margaret Smith, Treasurer
  • Jacquelyn Nash,Secretary/Past Pres.
Directors
  • Edward A. Charron, Past Pres.
  • Lola Gaunt
  • Barbara Harkins
  • Dan Harkins
  • Amanda Hodges
  • Ralph Hodges
  • Gail Hunyar, Book Sales Chair
  • Richard K. Jones, Esq, Past Pres.
  • Burt Kagen, Past Pres.
  • Sally Kenaston
  • Carla Leach
  • Joel Morris, CPA
  • Joyce Patten
  • Patrick Pattillo
  • Nitya Sivasubramanian,
  • David Smith, Rule, Bylaws & Nominations Chair
  • David Wells
  • Sylvia Wren, Membership Chair

The purpose of the Friends of the Library groups is to encourage government support of libraries, increase awareness of public libraries in the community, and raise funds to enhance library services for the good of the public library system.

Fundraising events include book sales, author events and much more.

Want to know more about Friends of the Jacksonville Public Library?
Contact us about providing a speaker for your organization. Call 630-2304 or email harry.reagan@comcast.net



To join one of the following Friends of the Library groups, please see the contact information below.

Friends of the Library Logo
Friends of the Beaches Public Library
Address: 600 3rd St
Neptune Beach, FL 32266
President: Barbara Galloway
Email: charles.galloway@comcast.net
Phone Number: (904) 247-4624
Meetings: 5:30 p.m. on the 2nd Tuesday of the month
Friends of the Library Logo
Friends of the Murray Hill Library
Address: P.O. Box 60071
Jacksonville, Fl. 32236
President: Judy Klein
Phone Number: 904-384-1523
Email: MHLFriends@gmail.com, jdklein@mindspring.com, helemark@hotmail.com
Meetings: 6:30 p.m. the 3rd Monday of the month
Friends of the Library Logo
Friends of the Olga L. Bradham & Etta L. Brooks Branch Library
Address: 1755 Edgewood Ave West
Jacksonville, FL 32208
President: Alisa Harrell
Email: alisaharrell@yahoo.com
Phone Number: (904) 358-0434
Meetings: 6:00 p.m. on the first Monday of every month
Friends of the Library Logo
Friends of the South Mandarin Branch Library
Address: 12125 San Jose Blvd.
Jacksonville, FL 32223
President: Candace Richardson, President
Email: candyrichardson@comcast.com
Phone Number: (904) 287-3379
Meetings: 2:15 p.m. on second Thursday of the month
Friends of the Library Logo
Friends of the Willowbranch Library
Address: 2875 Park Street
Jacksonville, FL 32205
President: Alicia Johnson
Email: aliciakjohnson60@gmail.com
Phone Number: (904) 693-0135
Meetings: Quarterly - (January/April/July/October) on the 4th Thursday at 6:00 p.m.