Notes from Friends: February 2026
February is “Love Your Library Month”
Each of us has a tale to tell about why we love our libraries. With February being “Love Your Library Month,” I’d like to share my tale with you, dear Friends of the Shelby Library!
My first memories of visiting a library were with my mother who would pile my 3 brothers and me into the car, drop us off at the public library in town, and pick us up about two hours later, probably to go shopping without us tagging along. This became a Saturday ritual and I usually came home with a stack of at least three books. At age eleven I discovered the biography section in our library, reading about famous women like Amelia Earhart, Eleanor Roosevelt, Abigail Adams. Fantasy, science fiction, mythology, and Anderson and Grimm fairytales eventually opened entire new worlds to my imagination. I loved that old brick library building in Belleville Illinois where an “old” librarian shushed anyone who dared talk, adding to the sacred atmosphere where I wandered among stacks of new and musty books.
In high school I was elated to volunteer in the school library with the bonus of getting out of study hall! In college I spent quiet hours studying at the campus library because there were too many distractions at the dorm. When I became a teacher, I escorted my students to the school library to research persuasion topics for Speech class. This was before the internet so we spent time accessing microfiche for magazine and newspaper articles.
Fast forward to retirement and moving to Stony Lake in 2005 where I discovered our Shelby Area District Library. Some of my favorite authors are on the shelves, Jodi Picoult, Ann Patchett, Anna Quindlen, Kristin Hannah, Steve Berry, Diana Gabaldon, James Patterson, to list only a few. If I can’t find a book I want, library director Tiffany Haight locates it using MelCat. Several years ago the president of the Friends of SADL, Leon Ballast, asked me to run one of their fundraisers, “A Little Chair-ity,” where child size furniture would be refurbished and auctioned to raise money for the children’s section. A few years later I was asked to chair the “Celebration of the Trees” fundraiser which has now morphed into “Celebration of the Holidays,” where more than 65 displays of wreaths, decorated trees, table top items, are silent auctioned to our community, raising thousands of dollars for Friends of the Library. In 2017, the Friends of SADL nearly folded after Leon and his wife moved to the Grand Rapids area. Without a president and secretary the Friends were on life support. Following a conversation with Tiffany about the future of Friends of SADL, I was convinced to take on the roll of president. My first tasks were to find a new secretary, Sharon Zoller, then locate the bylaws, and form a committee to revise the original document which was written in 1995. I learned that our legal status as a 501c3 nonprofit was in jeopardy and needed rectifying. We reduced meetings from monthly to quarterly, did away with dues, and worked to increase membership in the Friends of SADL. Today I am proud to report that we have 5 Friends Board members and 4 officers including president, vice-president, secretary, and treasurer. We also have an appointed liaison to the SADL Board to further communication with the Friends, and have joined the Friends of Michigan Libraries where I also sit on their board of directors. We have worked to improve our communication with the community utilizing the library newsletter, the SADL website, and in press releases with our two local newspapers and online. With Tiffany’s help, we often post on the SADL Facebook page.
The Friends of SADL love the library! We are volunteers who spend our time, talent, and resources to further our mission of supporting the Shelby Library. Bonus, we have also become good friends who share a love for our local, rural, public library! I thank the many volunteers who show up to help with our spring Seed Library, Garden Sale, Basket Silent Auctions, Used Book Sale, Celebration of the Holidays, and other events.
Do you have a “tale” to tell about why you “Love Your Library?” Please share to [email protected] and let us publish your story in our newsletter or online! And when you visit the library this month, be sure to thank the dedicated staff who make the Shelby Area District Library a special place for everyone!
Cindy McKinnon
President, Friends of Shelby Area District Library