July 2002 (Volume 4, Issue 2) In this issue:
And the winner is...The Cofrin Library!
The fourth Books and Baskets fundraiser was a huge success and a record breaker! The project raised $6000 (exceeding last year by $3600) which will directly benefit Cofrin Library's collections and services.
The fundraiser was only possible with the assistance and cooperation of many, many individuals (see page 3). Over $10,800 in goods and services were donated by businesses, organizations, and individuals. The Development Committee would also like to thank all of those who helped sell tickets. Friends' members, volunteers from Learning in Retirement and Library student employees sold just over 9000 tickets. Tickets were sold throughout the community, campus, via the web, the Friends' gardening program, Learning in Retirement classes, the UWGB Heirloom Plant and Vegetable Sale, and at eight performances of the show “Blast” at the Weidner Center for Performing Arts.
In addition to the donors and ticket sellers, several individuals contributed time and assistance to make the fundraiser outstanding. The Development Committee would especially like to recognize: Stacy Baltus, Jeff Brunner, Virginia Dell, Arch Johnston, Mel King, Jeff Nekola, Phoenix Bookstore, Nancy Schiegg, Rebecca Stephan, Deb Strelka, Angela Tritz, Zeta Turriff, Jean Watson, the Weidner Center House staff, and Jean Wentz.
Plans are already underway for the fifth Books and Baskets fundraiser. Watch for news of the exciting basket themes coming in 2003!
From the Editor - Jeanne Heuer
Yes, this is the June issue even though it may hit your mailbox in July. There has been so much happening and more coming up in the future, that I almost ran out of room. Books and Baskets (our 4th!) is the top news but don’t miss the article on The Unexpected Zone! - sort of like the Twilight Zone but zanier. It will be the highlight of every month in the coming academic year.
Lots of lists and housekeeping in this issue as well but a successful fundraiser means we received a lot of help. Do you know someone who works at or owns one of the businesses who contributed? - or one of the individuals who gave of their time and goods? Drop them a line or if you see them, thank them, because of their effort the Friends will be able to make the Library stronger and healthier.
Last year when the Board decided to give dollars toward staff development rather than a tangible item like a bookshelf we weren’t sure of the outcome. But funding is limited for those activities and a strong, knowledgable staff will always translate into a stronger institution. Check the Library News column to find out how the Library has already benefited.
Finally, talk us up! Do you know someone who loves libraries? Ask them if they would like to be part of the Friends. We are a diverse group.
Have a great summer!
Jeanne Heuer
The winners of 2002's Books & Baskets:
Feast of Food Basket - Barbara Stengel
Green Thumb Basket - Barbara Wentzel
Made in Wisconsin Basket - Wayne Heidemann
Pamper Yourself Basket - Glorianne Meyer
Sports and Leisure Basket - Karen Opolka
Student Survival Basket - Brenda Skenandore
The winners represent a cross-section of our supporters. They include a UW-Green Bay student, a librarian at an area public Library, a member of Learning in Retirement, and an individual who works on campus.
Two of the baskets were won by individuals who purchased tickets while attending the show, “BLAST”, together at the Weidner Center. Each bought a set of tickets for a different basket. When we called Glorianne to tell her she had won she mentioned that a friend from Marion had attended the show with her that evening and he had also bought tickets. The next person on our list to call was from Marion. We asked her if his name was Wayne and sure enough, it was her friend. Both had won! One of the out-of-town winners graciously donated some of their prizes to the Golden House, Family Violence Center. They wrote a very nice thank you note which is printed below.
Next year it could be you.
May 23, 2002
Dear Friends of the Cofrin Library,
We would like to thank everyone involved in
your recent fundraising raffle. We appreciate the hard work and effort you
all put in to obtain the very nice assortment of gifts we received. A special
thank you is extended to Deb Anderson for all that she did to make your
drawing a success. We are sure you all heard the unbelievable story of how
we both were winners. Again, a special thank you from the
bottom of our hearts.
Sincerely,
Glorianne Meyer & Wayne Heidemann
THANK YOU for making this the BEST “Books and Baskets”
We are indebted to the businesses, individuals, and organizations that contributed over $10,000 in goods and services to the fourth Books and Baskets Fundraiser. Please patronize the donors and take a moment to say thank you for their generosity.
| The Abbey |
Georgia Pacific |
Perkins Restaurant Petal Pusher Phoenix Bookstore Phoenix Club Pier 64 Pizza Hut Kathy Pletcher Polar Ware Prime Quarter Steak House Procter & Gamble Raven Tree Press Reiman Publications Rippin' Good Outlet Riviera Lanes Road America Sam's Club Santa Fe Salon Schreiber Foods Inc. Schroeder's Flowers Scofield House Seven Up Bottling Company Bruce Shepard Shorewood Golf Club Ski Brule Starbucks Steen Macek Paper Products Subway Target Timber Lodge Steakhouse Timber Rattlers Baseball Tres Bien Zeta Turriff University Avenue Market UW Credit Union UW-Green Bay Biology Department UW-Green Bay Phoenix Athletics UW-Green Bay Theatre and Music Departments Vander Zanden Jewelers Vertical Stronghold Voyageur Magazine Wally's Spot Weidner Center for Performing Arts Wellington White Lace Inn Willems Landscape Service Willow Street Bakery Wisconsin Historical Society Wisconsin Public Television Wisconsin Trails Magazine The Woods Golf Club Zeppelins Sub Shop |
The Thoughtful Gardener: Past and Future
by Betsy Foley
Was the Thoughtful Gardener Symposium on March 23 a success? Yes, though we did not achieve the numbers we had anticipated. The evaluation comments from the sixty-one enthusiastic gardeners who participated were heartwarming and encouraging. In a post-event evaluation meeting, the planning committee agreed the responses were sufficient encouragement to look ahead to the second annual event. The 2003 symposium will take place on a date to-be-determined in mid-June. The later date will allow "enhancement" activities that highlight the university's environmental advantages.
Theme for next year's conference:
Gardening with Native Plants
Among the symposium's many pluses was the partnership of community organizations
that made up the planning committee. Without the collaboration that included
the UW-GB Office of Outreach, the Center for Biodiversity, the Green Bay
Botanical Garden, Master Gardeners coordinated by Paul Hartman of the Brown
County UW-Extension, and the Friends of the Cofrin Library, the event could
not have happened. A grateful Thanks to all.
Coming in the Fall
The Friends are launching a new program series: The UNexpected Zone. TheUNZ is a free brown bag noon lunch hour series intended to showcase surprising talents or interests among the students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends. You can enjoy your lunch while you become acquainted with various campus personalities, learn new and strange hobbies or be entertained by some very interesting people. It’s not what you would expect and there may be a few surprises. "The Unexpected Zone" kicks off Sept. 18. Thereafter, look for it every second Wednesday of the month during the 2002-2003 academic year (except January) in the Niagara Room of the University Union, noon to 1 p.m.. Bring your lunch or buy it in the union. The Friends will provide coffee and tea.
The Unexpected Zone
The likely suspects so far...
Sept. 18 "The Fighting Tomatoes?”Little Known Stories About the Campus" A dialogue with Betty Brown, Bill Laatsch, Jerry Rodesch and Maarge Weidner
Oct. 9 WHAT'S ON YOUR PLATE? Jay Larson, chef, University Dining Service
Nov. 13 INFORMAL CHAT with the Chancellor Bruce Shepard
Dec. 11 MUSICAL POTPOURRI ten members of the faculty and staff
Feb. 12 VALENTINE'S
MUSH, Mary Valitchka and her team of husky sled dogs
Mar. 12 "GROWN UP STORIES WITH THE STORY
HAT LADY" Karen Kersten
April 9 Celebrate National Humor Month with a comedy program
May 14 "Reports from the 'Real
World'" Alumni and their (sometimes unusual) career stories
Reminders and more details will be sent later. Meanwhile,
mark your calendars; it's too good to miss.
More Programs
Finally, a subcommittee is working on Ancestral Pursuit V: A Genealogy Workshop scheduled Sept. 20-21 with major presenters already committed.
This year's workshop provides opportunities for beginning, intermediate, and advanced genealogists. The workshop begins on Friday afternoon with sessions emphasizing the nuts and bolts of genealogy. The focus of these presentations will be beginning research strategies and basic records.
The workshop continues Friday evening with a buffet dinner and a one-person play. This special feature is based on actual survivor accounts of the Peshtigo Fire. Diane Nichols, Oconto County historian, will present a dramatic account of the Peshtigo Fire entitled, "Amada Stewart: A Pestigo Fire Survivor." Through the moving words of a survivor, learn how the calamity of October 1871 changed the history of many families and communities in northeastern Wisconsin. This evening program is open to anyone ---not just attendees of the Geneaology Workshop.
Individuals attending the workshop on Saturday will be able to choose from sixteen different sessions. Topics to be covered this year include: cemeteries; territorial records; genealogy holdings at the Catholic Diocese, Area Research Center, and the Family History Center; online genealogy research; cemeteries; Irish and Norwegian resources; organizing and documenting research; military records; American history for genealogists, overcoming research brick walls, and more!
It’s shaping up to be an exciting year.
Library News
At the end of last year the Friends gave the Cofrin Library a gift of $1500 to be used for staff development. The following is a brief summary of the workshops and conferences made possible by the generosity of the Friends.
- Marlys Brunsting, Automation Librarian, was able to attend the Voyager Users Group Meeting. She attended ten sessions dealing with various aspects of the Library's automation system and brought back a lot of useful information to share with the staff.
- Funding also allowed Marlys to attend the workshop, "Using Microsoft Access to Create Reports from Voyager." After she returned from the workshop, she created a report for Media Services so that faculty and students at the counter can find videos by subject and wrote, that with her new skills she will be able to "create a lot of other new reports by subject also."
- Paula Ganyard, Library Instruction and Web Resources, attended a two-day workshop on using Macromedia’s Dreamweaver 4.0 and Flash 5.0. Both of these software packages are web development tools and will enable Paula to enhance the Cofrin Library’s web site.
- Deb Strelka, Head of Library Processing, and Jeanette Skwor, Serials Assistant, attended a Serials Holdings Workshop. Deb stated that the workshop gave her the knowledge to potentially exploit some capabilities of the Voyager system. Jeanette stated that she gained a better understanding of the periodical patterns in the Voyager database.
The entire Library benefits when one of our own is able to learn new skills and share them with colleagues. The end result is an ability to improve the level of service we provide to patrons. Without the generosity of the Friends, opportunities for professional development would be limited.
Membership Update
Survey Says... Friends Membership Survey Tells Us Who We
Are
by Ginny Dell
Thank you to all who responded to the membership survey recently circulated by the Friends of the Cofrin Library membership committee. Slightly over 60 percent of members returned the survey. That's an excellent response rate,according to sources in the marketing world!
Your responses tell us that Friends members are people who overwhelmingly support the work of the Library: 90 percent listed support for the Library as a reason for joining the organization, and 90 percent said it's a reason for renewing their memberships.
We also learned that Friends members are busy--57% of them are employed--and that they're active in working for and supporting the organizations to which they belong. Forty-six percent of members belong to four to six other organizations, with others reporting fewer or even more involvements.
Membership in other friends-type organizations was reported by 41 percent of the respondents. And, between 45 and 55 percent reported being active in some way in the organizations they join by participating in projects, serving on boards, or working on committees.
Being active carries through to the Friends of the Cofrin Library. Counting members and board members together, 29 percent have participated in some way in the organization. Again, that's higher than typically expected.
Here's more:
- 40 % are UW-Green Bay faculty, staff, students and retirees
- 60 % are from the community (this includes members associated with Learning in Retirement, clients at the Area Research Center, and those who gotmembership information at the circulation desk or through other associations with the Library)
- 65.2 % are 51 years or older
- 30.6 percent are between 36 and 50
- 39 % are retired
Top reasons members gave for joining:
- 90 % to support the Library
- 31 % to get Library privileges
- 24 % because of a personal contact
- 24 % for programs offered by Friends
Top reasons members gave for renewing
memberships:
- 90 % to support the Library
- 29 % for Library privileges
- 29 % because of volunteer opportunities
- 24 % for programs offered
We learned some things that aren't important to Friends members. Bookstore discount benefits and social networking opportunities both got low responses as reasons to join or renew membership.
Again, thank you for responding to the membership survey. This information will help us help the Friends of the Cofrin Library grow.