Friends of the Youngstown Free Library: Book sale scheduled, membership campaign underway

The Friends of the Youngstown Free Library, the library's volunteer-run, nonprofit group of fundraisers, is planning for its annual spring book sale and reminding the community its membership campaign is underway.

Spring Book Sale

From April 30 though May 2, the Friends will host a spring book sale at the Youngstown Red Brick Village Center gym, 240 Lockport St.

• From 5-8 p.m. Thursday, April 30, the sale will be open to current, renewing or new members of the Friends group. Anyone can join at the door.

•Public hours are: 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, May 1, and 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, May 2.

•At 1 p.m. Saturday, the "bag sale" begins, when shoppers can fill a bag (provided by staff) for $3. Books for sale will include: fiction, nonfiction, children's and adolescent, travel, cooking, gardening, self-help, spiritual, literature, and New York Times bestsellers. DVDs and CDs will be for sale. Items cost between 25 cents and $3, with most books costing 50 cents or $1. In addition, this sale will feature a large collection of donated books from Bob's Olde Books of Lewiston.

The book sale's proceeds benefit the Youngstown Free Library.

Membership Campaign

The Friends annual membership campaign is underway with incentives to join by 7 p.m. on the April 30 member's night gathering. Anyone who becomes a member before or up until that time will be entered in a raffle for 10 gift certificates for $20 each to Youngstown-area businesses. Winners will be drawn that evening and need not be present to win.

"Our members tell us how much they treasure our library in Youngstown," said Charlotte Viscio Clark, president of the Friends' board of directors. "During this annual campaign, we are invited to renew our support to our library and our community. We thank everyone who has already responded and hope to see our membership grow again this year."

The membership campaign, with the slogan "Make a BFF ('best friend forever') - Become a Friend of the Youngstown Free Library," hopes to renew interest and participation in the Friends.

Membership rates are $5 per person, $10 per family, or $25 per "supporting" member. Forms are available at the library or at www.youngstownfreelibrary.org.

The Friends of the Youngstown Free Library has a membership of about 250 and is run by a volunteer board of directors. It meets at 7 p.m. every third Wednesday of the month at the Youngstown Free Library. For more information about the Youngstown Free Library, visit youngstownfreelibrary.org or call 716-745-3555.