July 1999 (Volume 1)
Being a Friend
Just Got Better!
By Gerrie Pirman
Three locally owned and managed bookstores have agreed to give Friends of the Cofrin Library members a 10 percent discount on book purchases.
To get the discount you simply show your Friends card. If you have misplaced your card call Deb Anderson at 465-2539 or, better yet, e-mail her at andersod@uwgb.edu and she’ll provide a replacement.
The three Green Bay-area bookstores participating are:
- The Little Professor Book Center
- The Reader’s Loft
- Butterfly Books
The Little Professor Book Center located in the East Town Mall 465-4100. Hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekdays; 9:30 to 5:30 on Saturdays and 11 to 5 on Sundays. Books for all ages from early childhood through senior citizens. Owner/manager Dave Dreckschmidt says staff will assist customers in finding books; if they don’t have it in stock they can order it from their warehouse of 400,000 books with delivery in three to five business days. Unusual titles, not in stock at the warehouse, might take a little longer but they’ll keep trying. Little Professor has been in business for nine years, four at its current location. Dreckschmidt says he looks forward to Friends coming in so that he can be of assistance.
Reader’s Loft, the Book Lover’s Choice located at 611 George St., De Pere 337-6240. Hours are Monday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Tuesday through Friday 10 to 7; and Saturday 11 to 5. An extensive selection of poetry, history, and biographies in paperback and hardcover. Owner Virginia Kress notes they also have a large selection of cooking and gardening books, children’s gift books and an excellent selection of young adult books; books by local and regional authors are another specialty. A CD-ROM search service helps those who aren’t quite sure they precisely remember a title or author’s name. Searches can also be done for out-of-print, hard-to-find books. The Reader’s Loft is located in a renovated125-year-old building with antique Tiffany lighting, an Old English setting and a seating area. Kress says she stresses superior customer service and the slogan "An Independent Bookstore for Independent Minds."
Butterfly Books located at 118 N. Broadway, De Pere 339-1133. Summer hours are Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Thursday 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. It is a children’s bookstore and stocks 10,000 books for children from newborn through 18. Owner Karen Gaston notes they also stock educational toys and games such as puppet book characters, puzzles, games and greeting cards. Friendly staff and computerized search services help customers with special orders. Another feature is frequent special events including book signings and educational programs to encourage reading among young people. Their mission: "Butterfly Books, an independent children’s bookstore, vows to provide all who nurture the love of reading in children the opportunity to locate, experience, appreciate and purchase children’s books which honor the needs of growing young minds."
Friends
organization is "growing up"
By Virginia Dell
The Friends of the Cofrin Library have come a long way since a small group gathered in March 1996 to talk about the possibility of a new organization to promote and support the Library. By June of that year, the Friends adopted by-laws. In July, they elected officers and adopted a mission statement. By November, a membership brochure was ready, inviting memberships for 1997.
The spring "Books and Baskets" fundraiser was so successful that the organization plans to repeat it in 2000.
The Friends’ inaugural year in 1997 was a year of "firsts." The first fund-raising effort in January was a raffle of donated Packer memorabilia. Attendees at the first event in February were entertained by an Irish music and dance group, presented in cooperation with the Weidner Center. The Friends co-sponsored its first major event in April: a very successful 25th anniversary celebration for the Library and the Area Research Center. And in November, the Friends made their first gift to the Library, a multi-volume reference work.
Last year built upon that momentum. Friends’ programs – including a lecture-demonstration by the Klezmatics in association with the Weidner Center and the Jewish Welfare League, and readings by veterans from the Wisconsin State Historical Society book Voices from Vietnam – exemplified organizational goals to build partnerships and reach out to diverse audiences. The Friends’ 1998 gift to the Library included the first two in a projected 20-volume set of compact discs of all of Bach’s cantatas, and significant support toward preserving photographs in the Special Collections Department.
The Board started 1999 with a January retreat to look back at the Friends’ short history and look forward to the next phase of the organization’s development.
Among goals from that session: offering Friends members opportunities to become active. All members are welcome to participate on Friends standing committees (Administrative Services, Development, Membership, Programming, and Public Relations and Communications) as well as various short-term committees. Members can help one-time or in ongoing ways such as facilitating mailings, taking admission at events, and assisting in many aspects of the fundraising raffle.
The year since the retreat has been busy with activities. The Friends’ dramatic evening "with" 19th century Green Bay resident Elizabeth Baird, as portrayed by Beverly Smith, was well attended and received much media attention. The spring "Books and Baskets" fundraiser was so successful that the organization plans to repeat it in 2000. And, the organization is looking forward to presenting another gift to the Library later this year, and to a Friends membership reception in November.
If you’re a Friend who’d like to be active in helping the Cofrin Library and the Friends organization, you’re invited to call the Friends contact number at the Library: (920) 465-2383. Your involvement will be a significant contribution to the maturation of the Friends of the Cofrin Library.
Friends
and friends of Friends are pampered, entertained – thanks to fundraiser
By Christopher Sampson
Congratulations to all the winners in this spring’s Friends of the Cofrin Library "Books and Baskets" fundraiser. The event raised nearly $1,500 to enhance Library collections and programming.
Each of the seven theme baskets contained a book plus an array of prizes donated by area businesses. Value of the contents ranged from $200 to $750. Event organizer Deb Anderson says the response from businesses and individuals was impressive; it showed, with donations of such valuable items as books, retired beanie babies, a catered in-home dinner for four, a night’s stay at a bed and breakfast, fine dining, maid service, a kayak tour, and free tickets to a range of shows and local attractions.
"Response from businesses and individuals was impressive" says Deb Anderson.
Two of the seven winners were UW-Green Bay employees: typist Pam Schoen of the Community Sciences office and Prof. Chuck Rhyner of the Natural and Applied Sciences unit. Schoen’s $1 raffle ticket won her the entertainment basket, with free admissions to Peninsula Players, Next Door Theatre, the symphony, along with free movie passes, video rentals and dozens of music CDs. Rhyner won the pamper-yourself basket, with a catered dinner for four from Not By Bread Alone, free maid service, hair care products and more. Each of the baskets had an estimated value of more than $500. Other winners in the April 16 drawing were students, friends or community members: Michelle Brook, beanie babies; Gary Schwartz, Green Bay Packers; Mike Dietzen, local history; Paula Bagley, a night out; and Melissa Shaughnessy, travel /adventure.
$50,000 Budget Increase
for the Cofrin Library
By Paula Ganyard
Beginning in fiscal year 1999/2000 the Cofrin Library will be receiving a $50,000 boost to its collections budget. This is a permanent budget increase, going from about $425,000 to $475,000. "This will help us stay more current with new information," says Kathy Pletcher, Associate Provost for Information Services. "The UW-System will also be providing a five day a week delivery system for all campuses which means we can get almost anything owned by the UW Libraries within a week."
"This will help us stay more current with new information." – Kathy Pletcher
The Library will also see improved access for electronic information. In January, the final stage of implementation for the new Voyager System will be complete. This system will become the gateway to Library information and help improve access to collections and electronic databases across the UW System. The Voyager System will also make new services, such as remote check-out from other campuses, available.
This is an exciting time in libraries, so we invite you to stop in and check out all of the new changes!
New Committee Keeps Friends
Informed
By Paula Ganyard
As the chair of the new Public Relations and Communications committee (PRCC), it is my privilege to let all of the members know about this new committee. This past April, the PRCC was created with one purpose in mind, to increase communication between the Friends organization and the Friends members. This committee will try to accomplish this in a couple of ways. First is this newsletter, A Chat with Friends, which will be published twice a year (January & July). Secondly, we will try to keep you updated in between with the Friends web site, if you have not already done so, we encourage you to look at our web site at: http://www.uwgb.edu/Library/friends.html
If you have any ideas of how we can further increase communication amongst our membership or any ideas for articles for an upcoming issue of A Chat with Friends, please feel free to contact me at 920-465-2666 or ganyardp@uwgb.edu . We hope you have enjoyed this first issue of our newsletter. - Paula
PRCC Members for 1999:
- Paula Ganyard, Chair
- Chuck Matter
- Gerrie Pirman
- Christopher Sampson
- Zeta Turriff
"Got Library?" Suggest the
slogan, win a book!
By Christopher Sampson
OK, "Got Library?" doesn’t equal "Got Milk?" in the catchy-slogan department
But you get the idea. The Friends of the Cofrin Library organization is looking for slogan and motto suggestions and is calling upon members to help with the brainstorming.
Send us your suggestions… from the weighty ("Numen Lumen e Pluribus Librarius") to the informative ("Friends interested in strengthening the University Library, enhancing its collections, facilities and services, and promoting its usefulness) to the less weighty ("Be Nice. Be a Friend.")
Use your imagination as your guide, or refer to the actual Friends mission statement, which is partially quoted in the "strengthening the University Library" passage above.
If your entry is judged the winner you’ll receive as a fabulous prize, courtesy of the Friends, the all-new and easy-to -use edition of the New York Public Library Desk Reference. The single-volume reference book of commonly sought information offers a variety of information on influential people, world events, meaningful facts, important dates, useful instructions and handy advice. Information is organized into well-researched lists, easy-to-read charts and graphs, tables, valuable and interesting sidebars, definitions galore and much more, complete with full-color maps and illustrations, cross references, web addresses to aid in further research, and other print sources for additional information.
Got entries? Send them to Christopher Sampson of the Friends board at Room 815 Cofrin Library, UW-Green Bay, 2420 Nicolet Drive, Green Bay, WI 54311-7001; e-mail at SampsonC@uwgb.edu. Deadline for entries is November 5, 1999. Winner will be announced at the Annual Meeting of the Membership.
Be Year 2000 Compliant - Renew Your "Friends" Membership Now!
Renew your membership to the Friends of the Cofrin Library before the new millennium and receive a free calendar! Every member who renews their membership before December 31, 1999 will receive The Book Lover’s Calendar. This innovative and informative calendar offers 365 days of good reading--from beloved classics to the best beach-blanket reads, to histories, biographies, sports books, and self-help titles. Each day features a lively, opinionated capsule review and suggestions for further reading. Watch for your renewal letter to arrive in September.
Mark Your Calendars!
By Paula Ganyard
Be sure to mark your calendars now for the next Friends program. Campus Voices will be on November 3rd in the Christie Theater of the University Union. The early evening program begins with a Friends only reception and features the distinctive voices of the University of Wisconsin – Green Bay. It is sure to be an interesting evening with faculty, students and alumni showcasing their literary musical, dramatic, and artistic voices. Watch your mailboxes in October for further information. We look forward to seeing you all there!