A little help
from their Friends

By Jon Campisi
Times Staff Writer

Outside the sun was shining, but inside shoppers were preparing for a rainy day. Or a pleasant day. It really all depends on where and when you like to read your books.
It was 2 p.m. on a Tuesday afternoon, and four retired volunteers had just gotten through the first hour of the weekly two-hour used-book sale at the Tacony branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia.
The four volunteers — Maurice Cohn, his wife Ann, and their friends, Rose Fadigan and Clara Grau — make up the Friends of Tacony Library, which falls under the auspices of the Friends of the Free Library of Philadelphia, an independent, non-profit organization whose mission is to support the library system.
Today, there are 43 active Friends groups throughout the city. Eight are based in the Northeast. But with 53 library branches in Philadelphia, volunteers and organizers believe more could be done.
Karen Lash’s goal is to have a Friends group at every single branch by 2010. A difficult goal? Not in Lash’s mind, especially if people learn of all the good the Friends groups do day in and day out.
"It’s all volunteer-driven. It’s members of the community who use the library and treasure it," Lash, president of the Friends of Holmesburg Library, said during a recent visit to that branch, referring to those who man the non-profit organization.
Friends groups can be credited with helping to secure funding for various programming, both educational and entertaining, and work to raise money through a variety of ways, such as holding book sales, bake sales, flea markets, craft shows, bingo events and more.
Money raised also goes toward materials, such as books, DVDs and CDs, undoubtedly crucial components of any library system.
On that sunny day last week, David Payne, Tacony’s branch manager, stopped downstairs to see how the book sale was going.
"I can’t say enough good things about ‘Reese’ and his wife, Ann," Payne said, referring to Maurice Cohn by his nickname. Cohn is the president of the Friends of Tacony Library.
Payne, a native of England who has been in the States for nine years, said when he first started at the library four years ago, the basement was a "dark and dingy place." The Friends group, however, worked to turn that around. Now, the sale draws a crowd, many of whom buy multiple items at a time since the bargain prices are hard to beat.
"By word of mouth, it’s become pretty popular," Payne said of the book sale. "We have a really healthy turnout despite the weather. People come far and wide for this."
In fact, some folks travel to the library from outside Tacony, he said. This will happen when you have between 10,000 and 20,000 items on hand, the Cohns said.
"It keeps growing" Ann Cohn said of the inventory at the sale.
The books come from various places. Some are donated by teachers; others are brought in by people off the street, and still others were added by volunteers such as the Cohns.
And customers seem to be happy, many of them returning week after week. At a recent sale, one regular customer, who usually only picks up romance novels, decided to look around a bit more.
"All done?" Maurice Cohn asked the woman as she plopped a stack of paperbacks on the checkout table.
"Not yet," she shot back. "Today I’m going to look all over."
As for the sale’s space, the volunteers said they wouldn’t have been able to house all the books had it not been for Steven Bishop, the municipal security guard at the Tacony branch. Bishop went out and found numerous bookcases for use at the sale. He even picked up a couple of old-timey-looking lamps — ones people were getting rid of — that add a nice touch to the basement decor.
"He’s a godsend to the library," Maurice Cohn said of Bishop.
And it’s precisely stories like this that Lash, the president of the Holmesburg Friends group, hope will encourage others to get involved at their respective neighborhood branches.
After all, public libraries are just that: public. What better way to show pride in one’s community, Lash asked, than to show support for these important neighborhood institutions.
"There are amazing people in our communities who are giving back and doing amazing things," she said. "We would do basically anything for our libraries."
Take, for example, Murray Miller, who, as president of the Friends of Bustleton Library, heads another band of small volunteers. Like the Tacony group, Bustleton Friends is also made up of a mere four volunteers. But it’s quality, not necessarily quantity, that Miller prefers.
"We have an excellent core group of people," he said by phone.
Miller, who has been involved with the Friends group for many years, has been witness to various changes at the branch over the years, many of which he is proud to say could be attributed to action taken by the Friends. From a revamped interior to extra parking spaces for library patrons, his group has been responsible for helping to upgrade the branch, which has been in existence for nearly a half-century.
Miller’s group holds monthly meetings with Bustleton’s branch manager, during which an exchange of ideas take place. The Friends also bring up things that may not have previously been addressed. If Miller sees a crack in the sidewalk outside, for example, he’ll tell library staff. A lot of repairs in and around the library have been taken care of this way over the years, Miller said.
"We make certain decisions; we help the library out," Miller, a Northeast native, said of his group’s goal.
Miller believes the function of the Friends groups is much needed, since, he said with a laugh, "having another voice from the outside bugging them (the administration) about things sometimes is a good thing.
"We represent the community in maintaining the library," he said.
Amy Dougherty knows all too well the importance of the Friends groups, as well she should. Dougherty is executive director of the Friends of the Free Library of Philadelphia, the umbrella organization overseeing all 43 Friends groups.
While she enjoys her work, which she sees as an integral part of the library system’s operation, she also admits that it’s tiring, since she spends much of her time trying to secure funding from the local, state and federal levels and dealing with elected officials, which is not always an easy task.
She also deals with budgetary matters, and recently was out in full force, delivering public testimony in front of City Council.
During her testimony, Dougherty reminded Council members of the importance of libraries, specifically how they can serve as safe alternatives for youngsters who may otherwise fall victim to potentially hazardous lifestyle choices.
Libraries can help address some of these social challenges by providing good wholesome entertainment, as well as free programming designed to educate and help people better themselves.
"The need, therefore, for basic reading and computer literacy and progressive work force development programs is more imperative than ever," Dougherty said her in testimony, a copy of which was provided to the Northeast Times.
Dougherty appeared before City Council to request that there not be a budgetary reduction in library services in the fiscal 2009 general fund, as has been proposed.
According to Dougherty, the library’s fiscal year 2009 general fund budget is proposed at $40.2 million, which represents a 1 percent reduction from the current 2008 allocation. This translates to a loss of $403,000.
A breakdown shows a reduction of $189,000 would be in staffing, $100,000 would be cut from contracted services, due to a reduction in the price of library computer leases, and $114,000 is slated to be cut from the materials line item.

Dougherty is very concerned by the latter, since materials are an integral part of the library system. The materials allocation has not changed in seven years, she said. Instead, Dougherty requested that funding for materials increase by 10 percent, bringing the materials budget from $3.9 million to $4.3 million.
"That’s a big problem," Dougherty said by phone about the materials slash. "Here the city is, to its credit, maintaining fifty-three buildings, which is significant — and that’s great — but what they haven’t done is kept pace with what people need in those buildings."
Still, Dougherty said Mayor Michael Nutter was a big supporter of the library when he was a member of City Council, and she expects he will continue to be a backer as mayor.
Admittedly, when pitting the city’s library budget against the money raised by the volunteerism of the Friends groups, there’s no comparison. But for Lash, the Holmesburg branch Friends president, the work the volunteers do is priceless.
"The library belongs to everybody," she said, stressing the importance of caring for these neighborhood staples.
Besides, she added, where else can residents get computer classes for free, or rent DVDs for a very reasonable price.
For Lash, a married mother of two, there has been no looking back. She hasn’t regretted a minute of her work with the Holmesburg Friends.
"It’s a lot of fun," she said. "It’s work, but it’s a lot of fun."
And Dougherty had nothing but positive things to say about the Friends groups, crediting the volunteers with helping the library system to thrive in a way that will ensure that it will continue to exist for a long time to come.
"They bring people in; they bring money in, and they help library staff," she said. "The neighborhood connectiveness the Friends groups provide, you couldn’t pay for that. We are really proud of our Friends groups." ••
Reporter Jon Campisi can be reached at 215-354-3038 or jcampisi@phillynews.com