Wishing everyone a happy, healthy and peaceful New Year! 

The Friends of Newbury Town Library are a group of people who share a love of reading, a passion for our community, and an appreciation of libraries.  Funding from the Friends makes possible programs, seminars and workshops for adults and children, discount museum passes, summer reading programs for adults and children, supplies for take-home crafts for children, and desired extras that fall outside the regular budget of the library.

To our Friends, patrons and guests at our fundraisers, we want to thank you for your commitment and kindness.  Your donations and support have helped us surpass our fundraising goals for 2024.  We introduced two new fundraisers last year that were quite successful – selling Newbury hats and flags at the polling places during the primary and on Election Day and the Thanksgiving Pies and Such Fundraiser.  Both were met with great enthusiasm from our community.  Your generosity means everything to us and helps us better serve all of you.  At our winter fundraiser, Festival of Trees, we raised over $1200, a wonderful way to end the year.

The library saw many staff changes in 2024. Haley Hart became the new Director in March and her energy, enthusiasm, and openness have fostered a very successful collaboration.  We have seen promotions within the staff and new hires – all in all a great group of people with whom to work.  

We have seen several changes during 2024 to our Friends Board as well.  We are always looking for new people to serve on our Board.  The following positions remain open – Fundraising Chairs, Recording Secretary, Grant Writers, and Social Media Chair.

Every day across America, Friends are making a difference for the libraries we serve.  Think about the most successful libraries you know and look behind the curtains.  There you will almost inevitably find Friends working behind the scenes making sure that our libraries are strong, relevant and well-funded!  Please consider joining us in 2025! 

 


Looking to get more involved in our community?

Interested in meeting new friends?

The Friends of the Newbury Town Library are a fun group of volunteers who love books, our library and our community. We are looking to expand our board and would welcome your participation. Positions open include Recording Secretary, Social Media Chair, Fundraising Chair, and Grant Writers. We meet on the third Friday of the month at 1:30 pm, except July. We work closely with the library staff and raise funds to support the library’s programs and resources. Meetings are open to everyone. Please join us at our next meeting and see what we are all about.

Find us at here or get in touch via friendsofnewburytownlibrary@gmail.com.

We are also on Facebook.

WHO WE ARE

Please join the Friends or renew your membership today!

The Friends of the Newbury Town Library is a volunteer organization primarily focused on raising funds to support the Library and staff, enhance the resources and services of the Library, and enrich the community. As a non-profit 501(c)3 organization, it is a legally distinct organization and all donations are fully tax deductible to the fullest extent as allowed by law.

The Friends are governed by a Board of Directors which meets on the third Friday of each month, except July, and has one annual fiscal budget meeting in June. All meetings are open to everyone. The fiscal budget meeting is open to members only. We welcome and value your input and suggestions. Meeting minutes are available upon request. If you have any questions or would like to receive a copy of our meeting minutes, please email us at friendsofnewburytownlibrary@gmail.com.

The 2024/2025 Board Members are:

Joan Friedman, President

Valerie Arraj, Vice President

Pam Myers-Kinney, Treasurer

Caitlin Schwager, Membership Chair

Maureen Haley, Book Sale Room Chair

Marni Silbert, Director-at-Large

Marie O’Hagan, Director-at-Large

 

What We Do

Did you know that the Library has no line item in its municipal budget for programs? The Friends help the Library maintain its important and critical role in the community by allocating funding and support for:

  • Programs, seminars and workshops for children and adults, such as Writers Workshop and Yoga for adults, as well as Dads & Donuts and Take & Make Together programs for kids
  • Discount museum passes and state park passes
  • Summer reading programs for children and adults
  • Supplies for story time craft projects
  • Desired extras that fall outside the regular budget of the library
MEMBERSHIP AND SUPPORT

Join the Friends or renew your membership in one of the following two ways:

Annual Categories of Friendship:
Senior (65+) $10.00
Individual $15.00
Family $35.00
Patron $50.00
Benefactor $100
Corporate $250

Other Ways to Contribute to the Friends:

  • Donate books to our Book Sale Room
  • Give a gift membership. Need a gift for a birthday or holiday? Memberships make great gifts for book-loving friends and a great way to include others in the meaningful work our library does in our community.
  • Volunteer. By volunteering as little as one or two hours a year, you can play an important role in helping to support the library and its programs. If you are interested in volunteering at one of our fundraisers, grant writing, becoming a Board member (monthly meetings and an opportunity to work on various projects), or have new ideas or suggestions for fundraising that you can help bring to fruition, please email the friends at friendsofnewburytownlibrary@gmail.com
  • Make a 100% tax deductible donation. You can donate online through the Friends of the Newbury Town Library Paypal account, or mail a check to: Friends of the NTL (FONTL), Newbury Town Library (FONTL), 0 Lunt Street, Byfield, MA 01922
  • Shop in our Book Sale Room for discounted books, Newbury hats and flags and other merchandise.
  • Planned Giving. Include NTL in your estate or create a Charitable Gift Annuity or Trust.

THANK YOU, AS ALWAYS, FOR YOUR GENEROSITY AND FRIENDSHIP.

FUNDRAISERS

All proceeds raised at our fundraisers help fund NTL programs and events.

Annual Harvest Fest

Our Annual Harvest Fest, which takes place in mid-October, includes a soup tasting competition (in which patrons cast their votes for their favorite soup) and a literary pumpkin contest with prizes for each. We also have children’s craft activities, baked goods and Newbury merchandise for sale, and a chance to win amazing raffle prizes. It’s a fun day for the whole family and a great way to meet and mingle with neighbors and friends in our community.

Festival of Trees Fundraiser

Our Festival of Trees Fundraiser was introduced in December 2020 and was a huge success! During this event, we “grow” a forest of paper trees that we display in the library’s windows. We ask for a donation of $25.00 per tree and add a tree to our display with your name on it. We also offer a one-year free membership or renewal of membership to the Friends with each donation.

Annual Plant Sale

Spring ushers in our Annual Plant Sale in May. We have a variety of quality plants from which to choose, including annuals, perennials, berries, herbs, and hanging baskets, that have been donated from local gardens and backyards. The plants are potted and grouped according to type. We also sell Newbury hats and flags, as well as raffle off fabulous prizes. This event is always well attended, with many patrons returning year after year!

 

BOOK SALE ROOM AND MERCHANDISE

Stop by our Book Sale Room near the circulation desk whenever the library is open and come by often! We have something for everyone of all ages at bargain prices. You will find fiction, non-fiction, biography, mysteries, cookbooks, gardening books, youth and children’s books, DVDs, and audio books. Our stock is in very gently used condition and rotated frequently. Please use the small plastic bags provided for your purchases of books, DVDs and audio books. Prices are posted.

Book Sale Room Donation Guidelines

All the books we sell in our Book Sale Room are donated to us. Please bring your donations into the library and do not place them in the drop box. We happily accept books in like-new condition. Please do not donate books with broken spines, missing or torn pages and/or covers, visible mold, mildew smell or water damage. We also accept DVDs and audio books.

We cannot accept magazines, VHS tapes, and CDs.

*Books that we cannot use are donated to More Than Words, a job training and youth development program in Boston that empowers nearly 350 vulnerable youth each year in the foster care system, court involved, homeless, or out of school to take charge of their lives by taking charge of their $4M bookselling business.

Merchandise

We also stock and sell Newbury hats, flags and NTL mugs in our Book Sale Room, as well as unmatted prints of “Yellow School” by Jean Pearson. See below for pricing:

  • Newbury Library Mugs
    $12.00 per mug for Friends Members                                                                                                  $14.00 per mug for non-members
  • Newbury hats (come in four colors)
    $20.00 each
  • Newbury flags:
    Small flags (12” X 18”) are $40.00
    Medium flags (2’ X 3’) are $54.00
    Large flags (3’ X 5’) are $75.00.
  • “Yellow School” prints by Jean Pearson
    $25.00, unmatted

*All purchases of books and/or merchandise are to be made at the circulation desk with either cash or check. Thank you.