Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 25, 1993 TAG: 9302250167
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: LURA ASTOR SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: CHRISTIAINSBURG LENGTH: Medium
LIBRARY FRIENDS WELCOME ALL IN SUPPORT OF READING PROGRAMS
Don't wait around for an invite to join Friends of the Library. Any branch in the Montgomery-Floyd Regional Library can sign you up to encourage youngsters to read."We welcome everyone. We're not an elite group," said MaryCarol Mandzak, chairwoman of the Christiansburg chapter.
Fund-raising events and a small yearly membership fee help the group support library programs for preschoolers through adults.
Mandzak stumbled upon the group when taking her daughter Alex, now 5, to a story program at the library. She found a common interest with other parents there in assuring that a love of the magic in books be continued.
"My dad was a reader and historian. He instilled all these book things in me. . . . When I suggest that Alex and Michael [age 2] read, as opposed to watch a movie, they say, `OK.' "
Mandzak came here from Washington six years ago. Coming from a stimulating environment where she had been an office manager, involved in broadcasting and advertising for a No. 1 contemporary hit radio show, she experienced "culture shock."
"All of a sudden I'm married, I've got a family started, I didn't know anybody. Now that I'm part of the community I think it's a great place to live and raise a family."
Talking about her daughter's school, Belview Elementary, Mandzak said, "I get real choked up when I look at the principal and the teachers, and . . . they love these kids, they really take good care of these kids."
Mandzak finds satisfaction in being able to "give back" through involvement with Friends of the Library.
A successful fund-raiser in January with "No Strings Attached" leads to the next Friends' event, the May Day Extravaganza, a craft fair and bake sale at the Christiansburg library.
Raffles of various crafts and jewelry will raise money for children's programs, two bookmobiles and the summer reading program.
Then, "We'll kick off the summer Read-to-Me program with a book fair. There'll be a line out the door to the street to join," Mandzak said. The program has prizes and parties throughout the summer.
Anyone can help, Mandzak said. "Everybody has a talent. They may not feel it's a talent, but they have an area of interest that we could use.
"Some are good at organizing, communicating, baking or drawing. We need help with posters, phone calls, baked goods and ideas. There's a need for storytellers, speakers from businesses. Speakers with hobbies - you name it."
A radio station will broadcast from the Christiansburg library during some of the events, hoping to attract even more people to the the library's many free resources and programs.
Staffers can help visitors with the card catalogs and computers. The library is a place kids take grandparents and adults take adults. Plus, it's a quiet place to be with your own thoughts, and the thoughts of others who have put into words and pictures thoughts for use and enjoyment.
Free library programs
\ "BOOK IT" is an incentive program for kindergartners. By reading a certain number of books and filling out monthly forms, they can read their way to a free personal-size pizza. Kids can take a box of books home and take good care of them, enjoy them, bring them back and take another box home, Mandzak said.
\ STORY TIME: For ages 2 1/2 through 5.
\ AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAMS: For children in kindergarten through sixth grade.
\ TEEN VOLUNTEERS: "These kids help a lot," Mandzak said, "with fund-raisers, bake sales and other projects. It's almost like an internship. They'll be found shelving books, sitting at the children's librarian's desk and answering questions, they read out loud, and a lot of the art work in the libraries are the teens'. They also have special parties."
For more information on Friends of the Library, call 381-0680.