“Friends of the Library” are hoping to pull in some serious dollars from their third-annual dinner/dance next month in order to help finance a security system for the local library.
Slated to get underway at 6 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 13 at La Place Rendez-Vous, a literary-theme silent auction and “big band” music also are on the evening’s agenda.
“Friends” member Evelyn Metke, co-organizer of the dinner/dance, hopes to see more than 100 people come out in support of the fundraiser that will help stop the pilfering of reading material from the library.
“We are experiencing thefts of books. We’re finding more and more of them are not here–and that affects everybody,” head librarian Margaret Sedgwick said last week.
“You see on the computer that a book is available but when you go to get it, it’s not on the shelf. That’s really discouraging for [our patrons],” she added.
CD Roms and videos also are potentials targets for thieves, she noted, because they are easily accessible to the public.
Sedgwick said library security systems are commonplace in larger centres. But while she felt the need for one here was a priority, the cost made getting one hard.
“It’s cost prohibitive. One problem we have is the double doors, and that puts security costs at around $30,000,” she figured. “We couldn’t afford that amount out of the normal budget.”
Meanwhile, entertainment at the “Friends” dinner/dance will feature the sounds of the swing era but not from the usual source, “Mood Indigo.”
“The band will consist of people that have worked within ‘Mood Indigo’ but will be a smaller group,” keyboard player Myron Hawrylak said. “There will be five musicians and one vocalist on stage where there would normally be 14-16 band members.
“I’m looking forward to it and I think we will give people what they like to hear in terms of swing, which I’m told is coming back in a big way,” he added.
Tickets to the dinner/dance, which cost $25 each, soon will be available from “Friends” members or at the library.
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