The Friends of the Brunswick Library have a new logo; you may have seen it around town. Post a photo of a FOL bumper sticker with our new logo on the Friends of the Brunswick Library Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/FOLBrunswick) anytime between now & Railroad Days (10/5). The Facebook user that has posted the randomly selected photo will receive a free lunch certificate ($25.00) for the Green Country Inn. The lucky winner will be announced at Railroad Days (10/7).

There are always rules so here they are:

• One entry per Facebook user name.
• Please do NOT post photos of license plates; these entries will be deleted and not considered entries for this contest.
• Friends of the Library Board members & their immediate families are not eligible to win.
• Employees of the Brunswick Public Library & their immediate families are not eligible to win.
• Photos must be posted by the end of the day on Friday, 10/5/2012.

The Friends of the Library, Brunswick Branch Board of Directors invites all members of the Friends and the public to an open meeting on Saturday, May 5, 2012 at 9 a.m. in the Community Room at the Brunswick Library.

If you have any questions please e-mail us at folbrunswick@gmail.com.

The Friends of the Library – Brunswick Branch now have a page on Google+.

Just go to our new Google+ page and “Circle” us!

plus.google.com/111827850222958571700

A piece aired on the radio program Marketplace today about some bright blue bins found throughout the country.

Not all “Books for Charity” Go To Charity

In a nutshell these bins, owned by a company called Thrift Recycling Management, collect a whole lot of books. Some books indeed go to charities; some are recycled and so don’t add to our landfills; but a large portion of them are sold on sites like Amazon.com. Enough for the company to make $27 million last year.

Here’s a quote from Richard Cady, a volunteer at the Prescott (Arizona) Library:

Cady: The average little old lady who is going grocery shopping at Safeway isn’t going to figure this out. She’s going to think that those books are going to children, and I don’t think that’s always the case.

The bins worry Cady because he helps run Prescott Library’s used bookshop. It raises thousands of dollars for library programs by selling donated books. Like many Friends of Library groups around the country, Cady worries the bins are siphoning off donations that normally would come to them.

Indeed. The biggest fundraising event for the Friends of the Library is our used book sale. We’d be beside ourselves with glee to be able to earn one-tenth of one percent of $27 million for the Brunswick Library. That some corporation is making big bucks while competing against us for used books seems just a little unseemly.

So, before you dump your used books in a nameless bin in some supermarket parking lot, please remember your local Library organizations.

The Friends of the Library – Brunswick Branch now have a page on Facebook.

Just go to our new Facebook page and “Like” us!

facebook.com/FOLBrunswick

You can now get the latest Friends’ news via Twitter.

Just follow @FOLBrunswick.

Please excuse the dust while we finish constructing our new site.