SALS Friends Council

last updated: 6/30/24; 7/9/24

If you are involved in a Friends group – a member, an officer, the chair of a key committee for your organization, a library worker who is a Staff Liaison to a Friends group, a library manager or trustee thinking about launching a Friends group – we hope that you will join us for our virtual SALS Friends Council meetings.

The SALS Friends Council began in the fall of 2021. We gather twice a year in the evening to discuss important topics that affect your Friends of the Library group. Past meetings have focused on the relationship between the Friends and the library’s Board of Trustees, fundraising ideas, and membership engagement and the challenges involved in the recruitment of new Friends members.

Our meetings are convened on Zoom by Erica Freudenberger, Outreach, Engagement & Marketing Consultant for the Southern Adirondack Library System, along with Carol Kuhr, President of the Friends of the Argyle Free Library, and Jim Foster, Assistant Director for Public Service at the Clifton Park – Halfmoon Public Library and Staff Liaison to the Friends of CPHL.

If you’d like to be added to the SALS Friends listserv to receive notices of our meetings, please send a message to Erica Freudenberger at efreudenberger@sals.edu. Come get inspired by all the terrific work the Friends are doing for libraries of all sizes across our region. Hope to see you soon!

Friends Councils

What is a Friends of the Library group?

A Friends of the Library group is a community-based support group whose aim is to further the goals of the library in the community. Successful, effective Friends organizations work closely with the library’s Board of Trustees and staff but are independent organizations. These community volunteers believe in the library’s mission and are primarily concerned with advancing the library, its plans, and priorities.

What are the benefits to the library of having a Friends of the Library group?

Friends of the Library groups are usually active in raising funds, volunteering in the library, or advocating for it. These activities often result in an enhancement of the library’s image in the community. The Friends underwriting of “extras” outside the scope of the library’s operating budget may lead to the development of additional or expanded library collections, programs, and services.

What is a Friends Council?

Generally organized by the geographic region of a public library system’s service area in New York State, a Friends Council is a gathering of representatives from member libraries’ Friends groups. The group may meet in-person or virtually once or twice a year. Some public library systems provide an annual Friends forum, leadership workshops, or meet-ups for Friends. A Friends Council can build on these established events.

In-person gatherings may meet at different libraries, providing those who work with Friends organizations an opportunity to network and share best practices. A Friends Council meeting is a sharing session where each Friends group can present a question or problem that they are experiencing or provide suggestions to other Friends to help them overcome obstacles to their goals.

Typically, a topic is selected for discussion at the meeting. A speaker may be invited to introduce the theme and present information, methods, or samples that encompass the chosen topic. Common areas of interest for discussion may include fundraising, membership engagement, volunteer recognition, and roles of the Friends and the library administration. Round-the-table time can allow each Friends group to talk about their group’s current activities.

To facilitate communication, a listserv might be set up by the library system to keep the Friends volunteers and staff connected with one another. Meeting notices can be posted to the listserv and members may be able to post questions to gain input on a pressing issue.

The materials presented here include a worksheet on how to establish a Friends Council which can be used by public library system personnel considering establishing a Friends Council for their system or by a motivated volunteer in a system without a Friends Council who is willing to take the lead to work on establishing a Council with their fellow community volunteers.

Provided below are samples of correspondence with public library system personnel, a checklist for establishing a Friends Council, and a sample of an agenda for a Friends Council meeting. Once a Council is underway, a sample invitation to participate is provided to encourage other individuals to join.

Basic Directions

If you are considering coordinating a Friends Council in your public library system or region, first review the FLS/NYLA Checklist for Establishing a Friends Council. The checklist provides guidance through a set of simple steps, including collecting contact information on key volunteers in Friends groups in your region. The Friends of Libraries Section continuously is working to develop inventories of Friends groups throughout New York State and volunteers are available to assist you in this task.

A series of articles, “Friends Councils Offer Networking,” published in the FLS “Friends News and Notes” newsletter outline how various Friends Council operate.

January 2023, p.3: Buffalo & Erie County Public Library Friends Council
April 2023, p.6: Monroe County Library System Friends Council
August 2023, p.10: Southern Adirondack Library System Friends Council

Once you are ready to set an initial meeting date, a sample agenda is provided for a Friends Council meeting. See the checklist for additional ideas that could also be included at a meeting. Follow up with your participants by distributing minutes or other handouts from the meeting and set the next meeting date. You’re on your way!

The following sample documents will help you establish your Friends Council:

Sample agenda Friends Council

Sample cover letter to public library system personnel to encourage them to establish a Friends Council in their system

Sample invitation to Friends volunteer participate Friends Council

Where can I find a Friends Council near me?

In several of New York’s public library systems, volunteer representatives of Friends of the Library groups and library staff members gather to support one another in their work and share best practices. FLS established a task force which worked throughout 2021 with a goal of starting Friends Councils in systems where these Councils do not currently exist.

Here is a list of public library systems that currently support Friends Councils. If you would like to start a Council in your region, get in touch with the executive director of your public library system, one of our contacts in the library systems below, or FLS at FLS.NYLA@yahoo.com.

Buffalo & Erie County Library System
Dorinda Darden, Assistant Deputy Director – Public Services, Buffalo and Erie County Public Library, serves as coordinator of the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library Friends Council. dardend@buffalolib.org
Joyce Maguda, Friends of the Eden Public Library: joycemaguda@verizon.net

Mid-Hudson Library System
Kerstin Cruger, Outreach and EDI Specialist, Mid-Hudson Library System: fls.kerstin.cruger@gmail.com

Monroe County Library System
The MCLS Friends Council meets spring and fall annually. Contact Lisa C. Wemett, Council Secretary, at FLS.NYLA@yahoo.com.

Nioga Library System
Kathy Zipkin, Friends of Richmond Public Library, Batavia: kmzipkin@aol.com

Southern Adirondack Library System
Erica Freudenberger, Outreach and Engagement Consultant, Southern Adirondack Library System: efreudenberger@sals.edu.

FLS Task Force on Friends Councils
Jim Foster, Chair, FLS Task Force on Friends Councils; Assistant Director and Staff Liaison to the Friends of the Clifton Park – Halfmoon Public Library: jfoster@sals.edu.

For more information or assistance, contact FLS/NYLA anytime at FLS.NYLA@yahoo.com.

The content here was developed by the Friends of Libraries Section of the New York Library Association in 2023. It was compiled and written by Lisa C. Wemett, FLS Coordinator for Professional Development, in conjunction with the FLS Task Force on Friends Councils. The Friends of Libraries Section is a unit of the New York Library Association, 6021 State Farm Road, Guilderland, NY 12084. 518-432-6952. Learn more at www.nyla.org/friends.