Every year, the Amarillo Area Foundation hosts the Panhandle Gives event that begins on the Monday before Thanksgiving and ends on Giving Tuesday, the global day of giving. This year the dates are November 25 through December 3.
During this event, local non-profit organizations are eligible to participate and all donations made to the organization through the Panhandle Gives campaign are amplified.
One of the organizations participating in the event is the Friends of the Library, a volunteer-driven organization whose mission is to provide financial support for the Lovett Memorial Library and promote literacy in kids and adults.
“We are a group that supports the library in financial ways that the city budget cannot,” Friends of the Library member, Lynne Moore said.
“We support the library with purchases of books, primarily children’s books, the Memorial Garden out there, and really just other things that they need or would like to have that are not included in the city budget. One of the ladies of the library has started a Teen Time for the library, so we’re helping her out to get the supplies. We help with the Summer Reading Program in getting books and supplies for that. So we’re really just a financial support group.”
“I think everyone has this perception of the library as just being a city entity and the city funds everything, but they don’t,” Friends of the Library member LaWausa Crain said. “Even the books that are bought for adults are through a grant and so there is no budget for books in the library. The city budget is for the library staff and to keep up the capital improvements that have to be made on the building and even that is done on a yearly basis. We kind of step in and try to keep things up and going.”
The Friends of the Library organization has been around for more than half a century, starting right after the establishment of the library and even then, the goal was to provide financial support.
This will be the second year for the Friends of the Library to participate in the Panhandle Gives event, and while they may not have a set monetary goal in mind, they do have a list of things around the library that they would like to improve and programs to expand upon.
“This year, we have looked around the library and see the things that need to be done,” LaWausa said. “The big auditorium and the kitchen needs to be updated. We are also trying to make the Garden Center more user-friendly.”
“For me, updating, maintaining and getting the books in there, especially the children’s books is important. Our long-range goal is the staff would like to bring back sponsoring author visits.”
“Literacy is a huge thing for me, and with the Summer Reading Program and to encourage that and help them get a good solid foundation-if you can’t read, you can’t function in life,” Lynne said. “Getting the little ones to learn to read is a big thing especially.”
“To me, knowledge is something that you can never lose once you have it, and reading is the basis of knowledge,” LaWausa said. “The library is a place that can teach you anything you want to know.”
For more information about how you can donate during the Panhandle Gives campaign starting November 25, visit their website, panhandlegives.org.
On November 15 during the Lighting Up the Bricks event in downtown Pampa, all 14 organizations that are participating in the Panhandle Gives campaign will have booths set up in The Well STEAM and Literacy Center located at 213 N. Cuyler where more information will be provided about each organization over a hot cup of cocoa.
Check future editions of The Pampa News for other organization highlights!
