About the Friends
Since 1983, the Friends of the Verona Public Library have been supplementing the budget, services and public relations efforts of the Verona Public Library. Perhaps the most visible activity of the Friends is the organization and running of the library's annual Book Sale. Over the years, the Friends have sorted, bagged, carted, and sold thousands of books. These activities, along with membership dues and donations, provide all of the group's funding, which has been handled since the group's inception by Treasurer Robert Boeck.
Activities
During the tenure of the current president, Virginia Boeck, the Friends have added resources, including many unabridged books on tape to the library's collections. Since 2002, the Friends have supported remote access to the Encyclopaedia Britannica from the library web site. They've also purchased the McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology for the Reference collection.
The Friends have sponsored a variety of programs over the years, including a walking tour of historic Verona, Verona Peace Corps volunteer Chris Wannemacher's efforts to develop a library in Africa, and a party in honor of Andrew Carnegie's 150th birthday. Perhaps the Friends' most ambitious project to date was the 1993 celebration of the library's centennial. At that time, the Friends organized a successful fundraising campaign to purchase new furniture and a new circulation desk for the library's main room. They also coordinated a Centennial Celebration which brought together government, business, and civic leaders to celebrate the library's first one hundred years.
