FOAL Spring Meeting

The FOAL (Friends of Appleton Library) spring meeting was held on Thursday, April 18th. The evening started out with a short business portion, election of officers, volunteer of the year award and a slide presentation.

Our new slate of officers and committee chairs are:

Officers-
President: Joy Perry
Vice-President: Eloise Loebach
Treasurer: Margie Arpin
Secretary: Carol Bartels

Chairpersons-
Book Sale: Vacant
Children's: Maureen Johnson and Sue Muoio
Literary Club/Society: Lori Hull
Membership: Melvin Buetow
Nomination: Mary Plutchak
Programming: Jeanne DeGroot
Public Relations: Bill Anciaux
Teen Representative: Kim Sherwin
Volunteers: Dee Gradl
FOWL (Friends of Wisconsin Libraries) Representatives: Robert and Addeen Brunken

Outgoing Board members include:
Treasurer: Alice Melchior
Secretary: Mary Welch
Book Sale: Mary Pat Thomson
Children's: Jan Erdman
Teen Representatives: Nathan-Hoft-March and Bob Sylvester

These people all volunteered their time and we are very grateful for their efforts! There are currently 484 FOAL members; up from 320 in 1995. Please consider joining this fine group of library supporters! Membership dues are $5 for individuals and $10 for families. A $25 membership is considered "supporting" status. Checks should be made payable to FOAL and sent to FOAL, 225 North Oneida Street, Appleton, WI 54911.

The Volunteer of the Year Award was presented to Ralph Dorn. Ralph volunteers for Walking Books, the Summer Library Program, library mailings, and special projects. Carole DeJardin, Children's Supervisor, recently commented that Ralph was the "mainstay" behind the recent Prime Time programming. Ralph's name has been added to our plaque in the hallway at Appleton Public Library. He was presented with an engraved clock as a gesture of our appreciation for all his efforts.

Maija Dreimane presented a slide presentation entitled, "Expressing the Spiritual in Tyranny and Freedom". Maija is Latvian-born and is fluent in numerous languages. She is the English as a Second Language coordinator for the Fox Valley Literacy Coalition. Her slide presentation highlighted the work of sculptor, Igor Vasiljev. Maija is a first- rate photographer as exemplified in her slides.

The Summer Library programs for children and teens will kick off in June. FOAL provides incentives for these programs. Many of our FOAL members are volunteers that work at distributing these special prizes for children. In this way, FOAL encourages young people to practice their reading skills during the summer months and enrich their summer experience. Thank you to all the volunteers who participate in this effort.

Upcoming ideas for events came out of a FOAL Board retreat, which was held in September 2001. As part of the "setting priorities for present and new activities" session, the Library is planning on conducting off-site programming at the Thompson Community Center. Cece Wiltzius will lead two sessions of the video discussion program Stealing Time: The New Science of Aging. In addition, a committee will soon be formed to implement an art and poetry related program. We hope to partner with local art and poetry groups and conduct the program in October or November of 2002. Watch for details. For further information, contact Community Services at 832-1695.