Fred Pot Fred Pot

The State of ALFA

Annual Meeting Message from the Chair

April 9,2025

 

Hello and welcome to the annual meeting of the Astor Library Friends Association—also known as ALFA. This is our 43rd year as a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization. My name is Pat Thomas, the Interim President of ALFA, and I would like to thank the Columbia River Maritime Museum for donating this meetings space today while our library is under renovation.

It is fortuitous that this year our meeting falls during National Library week, April 6-12, a week that comes with an increased focus on amplifying the invaluable role that libraries fill in society.

In addition, Take Action for Libraries Day is on Friday April 10. As you probably know, Library funding is in danger at the federal level, making this a crucial time to write, call, or visit your legislators. Links on the American Library Association ( www.ala.org ) and United for Libraries websites help make this contact process easy.

We also have National Librarians Day to look forward to on April 16, a day when we want to give extra thanks to the intrepid and hard-working Astoria librarians and Library Director, who have been working under duress (and umbrellas!) and in reduced conditions for a long time now, both waiting for the renovation to begin, and now waiting for it to be over.

This year, besides supporting library programming, purchasing magazine subscriptions, and maintaining the copy machine, ALFA has accomplished a lot within the organization. Last fall we had a hugely successful book sale.

And thanks in large part to new member/volunteer Fred Pot, our new website is up and running. It is still a work in progress but is already providing information and attracting attention, and donations! All people paying their dues online become members, but we are still working out how to acknowledge this properly on the website.  In the process we will be rebuilding our membership contact list. ALFA membership cards will be in the works soon and will be mailed out to all members, so please re-up or join us as new members by using the website—it will help to streamline our mailing list and accounting procedures—and we promise to send you only vital ALFA information.

Any other donations to keep our library growing—whether one-time, single, recurring or memorials, will be gratefully received and appreciated. We rely on longtime supporters and are looking for members to help support the Friends as we support the library. Cash donations may be made to any ALFA member and at the library. We donate our time, but your donations are just as, if not more, important to our mission to aid the library, its staff, and patrons.

ALFA's Board is also working on updating the bylaws, including our amendment vote today.

But here's our really BIG news! We recently learned that our application for the American Library Association/Random House small rural libraries grant was accepted, and that we will soon be awarded $500.00 toward our new Library of Things, a wide-ranging project beginning next fall—

literally from the ground up—when the library reopens.

The Things, in this case, will be gardening tools that can be checked out from the library. The tools will be available in conjunction with upcoming gardening classes, and a seed bank, along with community partnerships including The Food Web—food preparation, cooking, and preserving classes along with the appropriate equipment (dehydrators, canners, mixers) that can be checked out of the library, and the OSU Extension and Master Gardeners, all to help build food resiliency in the county. As you may know, over 1/3 of our area's residents experience food insecurity, numbers which we aim to reduce by helping community members become more knowledgeable and resilient.

ALFA will match the grant funding for tools with another $500. $250 will purchase gardening books, and $250 is earmarked for programming, outreach materials, and additional gardening equipment.  My desire is that we can raise another $1000.00 for the project by the time it begins next fall. Suzanne will fill you in on the exciting community partnerships that have grown out of this venture.

Thank you to the ALFA Board, Friends, and volunteers who have helped make this year a success. And thank you to all potential Friends who might find a home in this valuable community organization. Any organization is only as strong as its members.

Patricia Thomas

ALFA Board Interim Chair

 

 

 

 

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