VALENTINE CRAFT PARTY

For the last several years, the Friends have sponsored an annual Valentine craft party where children, parents and grandparents have had great fun making Valentine cards and decorations. Come and join us this year on Friday, February 8 from 3 to 4 PM upstairs in the Children’s Room. We’ll have lots of fascinating material available in our craft treasure box - and some cookies to munch on while you work! Don’t be shy - everyone can be an artist and create a masterpiece for their sweetheart.

DIRECTOR SEARCH

The Trustees’ search for a Library Director is continuing under the direction of a committee chaired by Carol Jarvais.

COMPUTER NEWS

Verizon has installed our new T-1 line to the Internet, the necessary equipment (router) has arrived, and the changeover should take place by the time this newsletter is published. This much higher bandwidth connection will hopefully eliminate the slowdown which often occurs when all the computers are online at the same time. Two members of the Friends, Jim Foster and Lee Granville, spent the 28th and 29th of January at the Maine State Library’s computer lab receiving advanced training from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on the uses of the Gates computers, and came back with a number of new ideas for improving our service to the local community. Jim is working on a new series of hands-on computer classes, with specific reference to the Library’s machines, to begin in early spring.

FRIENDS’ ACTIVITIES

The next regular meeting of the Friends of the Skowhegan Free Public Library will be held on Wednesday, March 13 at 7 PM at the Library. There will be a program, to be announced later. Volunteers from the Friends will be visiting schools to read to children in celebration of Dr. Seuss’s birthday.

LITERACY VOLUNTEERS TUTOR TRAINING

Literacy Volunteers tutor training sessions will be held at the Skowhegan Area High School on six Thursday afternoons from 5 to 8 PM, starting March 7. For more information or to register, call 474-7553 or 1-800-322-5455. This course trains volunteers to tutor individuals in basic reading. $15 is charged for materials.

ANNUAL SPRING LAWN SALE

The annual Spring Lawn Sale to benefit the Library will be held as part of the 7 Mile Lawn Sale on Saturday, May 18. The location will again be at Jim and Corrilla Hastings’ barn. Judging from the number of articles on hand, many Skowhegan residents have already been doing spring cleaning! We welcome any kind of usable items - household items, clothing, toys, furniture, tools, books - but please, no broken appliances, television sets or tires which have to be trucked to the dump at a fee. You may arrange to bring your donations to the barn now by calling 474- 3949. If you would like to volunteer to help on the day of this event, the day before to price, or the day after to sort and clean up, please call Kathy Hughes, volunteer coordinator, at 474-8969. This event has been a major fundraiser for the Library over the past three years.