SHPL- FRIENDS OF THE LIBRARY
Contact the Friends by email by clicking Friends@SHPL |
Mission
The Friends of the Sterling Heights Public Library, organized in 1976, is a volunteer non-profit group dedicated to enhancing and improving library services for our community. Friends contributions, fund-raising activities, and volunteer efforts support adult and youth programs, maintain and improve collections, and provide new technologies and capital improvements.
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Officers
Friends Book Store
The Friends Book Store is open Monday-Thursday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Friday from 1-4 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Please stop by for some great bargains.
In other bookstore news, restaurant gift certificates are awarded to bookstore volunteers each month as a thank you from the Friends.
Watch for Red Dot books in the Bookstore. All items marked with a red dot are on sale for 50% off the regular price. You can have all the red dot items you can pack in a plastic grocery bag for $3, or a paper grocery bag for $5 during our special bag sales.
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Donations accepted
The library accepts donations of books and other materials at any time. We will issue a receipt for the number of hard or soft-cover books or other items donated. We do not assign a monetary value. Please keep the following guidelines in mind:
Donated items should be in good to excellent condition. This means no books with torn covers, out-of-shape spines, worn, dirty, smelly, dusty, etc.
Recent fiction books, children's books, cookbooks, computer books, craft books. videos, puzzles, games, audiocassettes, self-help books, classics, CD's, LP's, new magazines, and diet books are always popular.
Donations may be brought to the Friends Book Store, the circulation counter, or to the library's back loading dock.
Check with your company for
matching gift policies
If you are planning to give to the Friends
of the Library, check into your employers' policies. Many companies have
programs that will match the charitable contributions made by their
employees. Through corporate gift matching, your employer can multiply your
gifts to make them go further. Some companies in the area that match
employee contributions are: National City Bank, DTE, Costco, Macy's,
PepsiCo, UPS and Home Depot. Please think of the Friends when making your
donations. Thanks!
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Friends Bestsellers & Book Club Kits
Bestsellers is a new collection that features the newest and most popular selections. Don't wait on hold! Just drop into the library and check one of the books out. This collection checks out for seven days and is non-holdable.
Book Club Kits are a great way for you to help out your own private book group. Our book group kits consist of 10 copies of a title and special discussion questions, all in a tote bag. They check out for a six-week time period and are holdable. Those interested in checking out one of the kits should visit the library's circulation desk and request the desired kits by title.
For a list of kits, click HERE.
More will be added every month, so watch for new titles. For more information, call (586) 446-2640.
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History of the Friends of the Library
The Library Board of Trustees and the Friends of the Sterling Heights Public Library first gathered at an organizational meeting on Oct. 14, 1976 when the library was located in a three-bedroom ranch house on the present library site. Though few in number, members of the Friends staged book sales during the following three years, and with the proceeds purchased a library card laminator, a day-long film festival, and children's listening center in the library.
With the move to the new, two-story building in October 1979, the library experienced a dramatic increase in usage. The Friends looked for ways to add to its membership in order to give additional support to the growing library. The Bears fundraising campaign proved to be the answer. Membership increased from 17 individuals in October 1976 to 180 families in July 1981.
The Friends fundraising total is now over $250,000.
Just a few of the items donated by the Friends include the "In Use" sculptural relief gracing the second floor main wall and a large contribution to the Children's Art Garden. Our Friends have certainly helped make the library the outstanding city service that it is today
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Application to Join the Friends of the Library
Click
here
to print out an application form. (You will need Adobe
Acrobat Reader).
Applications to join the Friends of the Library are also available throughout the library
and in the quarterly City Newsletter. Make checks payable to Friends of the Sterling Heights Public Library. As a 501 (c)(3)
non-profit organization, dues and contributions are tax deductible and also quality for a
Michigan Tax Credit.