Tuesday is final opportunity to make a friend or be a ‘Friend’ at the library

Do you know your neighbors? Do you just tell them hello, or do you really know where they’re from, what their interests are or how many children or grandchildren they have?

Since February the Friends of the Library have been getting to know their neighbors during a “Meet your Neighbors over Coffee” regular event. Held every Tuesday morning on the porch of the Maricopa Community Library from 10 until 11:30, residents can drink coffee or tea, munch on cookies (all provided by Bashas’) and chat with both established and brand new members of the community. Naturally, you can also check out books or find out more about becoming a Friend of the Library.

“It’s been fun and very successful,” explained Mary Lou Smith. “We’ve had a dozen or more people every week, and we’ve met a lot of new people.”

The last Friends of the Library used book sale was a successful fundraiser.

The Friends of the Library is a non-profit, community-based organization that serves as the fundraising group for the library. They hold used book sales twice each year, and they organized and hosted the Harry Potter birthday party at the end of July last year. They are also in the process of starting a book club and publishing a community cookbook. According to Kathy Debevec, cookbook chairperson, “It will be available around the first of October as a three-ring binder for $15. We’re planning to have it for Founder’s Day.” The next project for the group is the republishing of Maricopa teacher Pat Brock‘s book “Reflections of a Desert Town,” the definitive history of Maricopa.

All projects undertaken by the Friends give back to the community and the library. Current projects, like the cookbook and Brock’s book, will be utilized to raise funds for Maricopa’s new library, scheduled for sometime in 2009.

However, if you want to “Meet your Neighbors over Coffee,” next Tuesday morning, April 25, is your last chance. “It’s getting warm out here,” noted Judy Figgins of the Friends. “It may get a little too warm on this porch.”

Make a friend or be a ‘Friend,’ and find a good book. See you at the library!