About the Friends
Friends of SWPL are part of Friends of Libraries USA and Friends of Connecticut Libraries. Our mission as Friends is to support library activities; to help publicize library events and issues, and to develop a supportive, informed group of Friends. We now have over 200 members.
We raise funds primarily through book sales, trips, and membership dues as well as from foundations and memorial gifts.
2023-2024 Friends Officers
President: Anne-Louise Fournier
Vice President: Cathy Perrill
Secretary: Roselle Macdonald
Treasurer: Catherine Belanger
Benefits of Membership
Friends Give...
- the used book sales - Tuesdays 9:15 am-6:00 pm; Saturdays 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. (during the Library's summer hours)
- hospitality for library events
- funding for special library programs
- funding for library equipment
- funding for development of new collections and services
- cultural trips
- monthly newsletters and calendars
- "Books for Babies" welcome kits
- scholarships for graduating South Windsor students
- volunteer leadership and support for a variety of library events
Become a Friend
Friends News
Books for Babies
The Friends of South Windsor Public Library participate in the national Books for Babies project whose goal is to encourage new parents to expose their babies to books and reading. We provide kits with information on the importance of early literacy, how to register for a library card, and a new board book for every South Windsor family welcoming a new little one.
If you know of a newborn in South Windsor, please contact Mary (860-644-1541) or the Children's Library (860 - 644-5404) at the library . They'll pass along the message to the Friends!
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 carry 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 at the time, 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. Each year, the Assistant Superintendent picks an edition from the available dictionaries for the Friends to donate.
Sarah, Outreach Children's Librarian, makes the appointments, and she and Mary Spellacy distribute them to the classrooms during Children's Book Week in November. The students chat animatedly upon seeing the dictionaries and exclaim as they turn the pages to find not only words, but other fascinating information, such as maps, our system of government, and more. They thank Mary and Sarah personally and some classes send 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 latest dictionary is also in the Children's Deparment. (For 2020, Sarah and Mary recorded their presentation and sent that and the dictionaries to each school.)
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.
Friends of SWPL are part of Friends of Libraries USA and Friends of Connecticut Libraries. Our mission as Friends is to support library activities; to help publicize library events and issues, and to develop a supportive, informed group of Friends. We now have over 200 members.
We raise funds primarily through book sales, trips, and membership dues as well as from foundations and memorial gifts.
2023-2024 Friends Officers
President: Anne-Louise Fournier
Vice President: Cathy Perrill
Secretary: Roselle Macdonald
Treasurer: Catherine Belanger
Benefits of Membership
Friends Give...
- the used book sales - Tuesdays 9:15 am-6:00 pm; Saturdays 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. (during the Library's summer hours)
- hospitality for library events
- funding for special library programs
- funding for library equipment
- funding for development of new collections and services
- cultural trips
- monthly newsletters and calendars
- "Books for Babies" welcome kits
- scholarships for graduating South Windsor students
- volunteer leadership and support for a variety of library events
Friends Receive...
- monthly calendars, program flyers, and newsletters by mail
- advance announcements of special events and trips
- the satisfaction of supporting your community library
Become a Friend
Won't you join us? You are invited to join the Friends at any time by requesting information at the circulation desk or by downloading this application and sending it to:
Friends of SWPL
1550 Sullivan Avenue
South Windsor, CT 06074
Friends News
Books for Babies
The Friends of South Windsor Public Library participate in the national Books for Babies project whose goal is to encourage new parents to expose their babies to books and reading. We provide kits with information on the importance of early literacy, how to register for a library card, and a new board book for every South Windsor family welcoming a new little one.
If you know of a newborn in South Windsor, please contact Mary (860-644-1541) or the Children's Library (860 - 644-5404) at the library . They'll pass along the message to the Friends!
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 carry 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 at the time, 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. Each year, the Assistant Superintendent picks an edition from the available dictionaries for the Friends to donate.
Sarah, Outreach Children's Librarian, makes the appointments, and she and Mary Spellacy distribute them to the classrooms during Children's Book Week in November. The students chat animatedly upon seeing the dictionaries and exclaim as they turn the pages to find not only words, but other fascinating information, such as maps, our system of government, and more. They thank Mary and Sarah personally and some classes send 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 latest dictionary is also in the Children's Deparment. (For 2020, Sarah and Mary recorded their presentation and sent that and the dictionaries to each school.)
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.