FRIENDS

of the

South Windsor Public Library

Friends Give:

....the used book sales....personal computers, software, and public computer training....hospitality for library events....library objects for sale....funding for special library programs....funding for library equipment....funding for development of new collections and services....trips....monthly calendars....volunteer leadership and support for a variety of library events

Friends Receive:

....monthly calendars, program flyers, and newsletters by mail....the satisfaction of supporting your community library

To join the Friends of the South Windsor Public Library:

Student $4, Individual $5, Family $7, Business $10

Associate $10, Institution $10, Sustaining $25, Patron $100

Lifetime $150

Books for Babies

The Friends of South Windsor Public Library have instituted a Books for Babies project whose goal is to encourage new mothers to expose their babies to books and reading. We would like to contact every new mother in South Windsor and present her with a Books for Babies kit which includes a bib, a book and baby's first library card.

If you are a new mother or know of one in South Windsor, please contact Sandy or Mary at the library - 644-1541. We'll pass along the message to the Friends!

Friends News

The Dictionary Project!

In 1992 Annie Plummer of Savannah, Georgia, gave 50 dictionaries to children who attended a school close to her home. Thus was born a dictionary project and before her death Annie had raised the money to buy and distribute 17,000 dictionaries. But her dream did not die with her. She left an idea that has developed into The Dictionary Project, and people who have never heard of her carried on the idea and to date over 125 million school children have received dictionaries. Most children do not own a dictionary and some do not have one in the home. Mary Martin, Treasurer of the Friends, learned about this project from out of state friends and brought the idea back to us. The Board was impressed with the project and agreed to buy a dictionary for every third grade student in our schools. Five samples were shown to the Assistant Superintendent and he chose A Student's Dictionary & Gazetteer, 11th Edition, published in the U.S. in 2006 by The Dictionary Project. Just larger than a paperback book and more sturdy, this dictionary can fit easily into a backpack for use at home or in the school and is personalized for each student. Containing not only words, but diverse information, it has been specially designed to improve reading ability and comprehension. The students will be able to keep the dictionary handy as a personal reference book and as an essential tool for a quality education.

Joan, Outreach Children's Librarian, made the appointments, and she and Mary distributed them to the classrooms during Children's Book Week in November. The students chatted animatedly upon seeing the dictionaries and exclaimed as they turned the pages to find not only words, but other fascinating information. An explanation of sign language caught their eye; they marveled at the maps; they noted the information about our government and our presidents. They thanked Mary and Joan personally and promptly wrote many charming individual letters expressing their gratitude and their enjoyment of the book. These letters are on file in the library and we urge you to look at them to realize first hand some of the good things the Friends do for our library and its users. A copy of the dictionary is also in the Children's Deparment.

The Friends will continue to sponsor the distribution of dictionaries along with the thousands of other sponsors in the United States such as civic groups of all kinds who are helping to make a difference in their own communitites. The Friends are excited about the possibilities of the Dictionary Project which, of course, is made possible by the sales of the used books in our Book Sale Room. Another thanks to our book sale room volunteers and for Friends members like Mary Martin, always on the look-out for worthwhile projects.

Margaret V. Tedone, President

Friends of the South Windsor Public Library