History of the Friends

The Friends of the Library was established in 1982 in response to decreasing allocations
of money from the county. The first year was spent fundraising and in connection with
Abitibi, $8,000 was raised to spend on books. That was the total book budget for the
year. The Friends are a nonprofit organization committed to supporting the library,
its mission and its programs in any way it can. The Director is an 'ex officio' member
of the board who attends meetings but cannot vote.

Over the years, the Friends have taken on a variety of different activities ranging from
fundraising to programming to library awareness, depending on what the particular
needs of the library were at any given time. The first major program funded by the
Friends brought Karl Haas of PBS to Alpena. Books and Brown Bag was started by
the Friends and is still an ongoing program. Probably the most unique fundraiser was
a 'Monolopy' game designed and sold by the Friends based on Alpena.

From 2001-2004 when the new addition was purchased and built, a good deal of time
was spent fundraising to help that particular project come to fruition. Whether donating
money for things like Authors in the Fall and the Fountain, providing specific library
related programs or helping with Summer Book Club, the Friends remain an active and
vital force in keeping the library the cultural center of the community.