Friends of the Library

Friend of the Cedar Rapids LibraryCELEBRATING 40 YEARS!

Read the Proclamation

On April 7, 2011, the Board of Trustees read aloud this proclamation celebrating the Friends 40 years of service and proclaiming April through October as Friends Celebration Months.

 

Mission Statement
Friends supports the Cedar Rapids Public Library services and programs, promotes literacy through outreach programs that encourage and enhance reading throughout the community and conducts fundraising activities to assist with library and outreach projects.

Read a recent issue of the FOCUS newsletter

Activities
In the Fall, Friends hosts a major fundraising event, the Annual Book Sale. More than 80,000 donated books of quality are available at affordable prices. Proceeds from this event plus membership contributions, corporate support, memorials and grants allow Friends to provide:

  1. Cedar Rapids Public Library funding for equipment and programs,
  2. Babies and Books hospital packets for parents of newborns,
  3. Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) distribution of paperback books to preschoolers,
  4. Clifford the Big Red Dog appearances at library story hours, preschools and elementary schools,
  5. America Reads support at area elementary schools,
  6. Literacy Initiative help to service agencies such as Madge Phillips Center and the Free Medical Clinic
  7. Books-by-Mail service for the homebound, and
  8. RIF (Reading is Fundamental)

 

Book Nook
Visit the Book Nook at the Bridge Library at Westdale Mall

  1. Located near the Library entrance
  2. Books and media for all ages
  3. All items are $1.00

 

Donations:

The Friends of the CRPL have installed a donation drop box in the Westdale Mall parking lot. The box is located on the east side of Westdale Mall between the JCPenney store and former Steve & Barry's store on the sidewalk.

If you have a large quantity of books and/or media that you would like to have picked up or if you have questions about your donation, please contact the Friends of the CRPL at CRFriends@gmail.com.

Due to the high costs of recycling and trash removal, we ask that you limit your donations to items we can sell – things that you’d be willing to buy.

  1. No broken spines or missing covers.
  2. No torn, missing, marked, or highlighted pages.
  3. No stained, moldy, or wet pages; no books with bad odors.
  4. No magazines.
  5. No 8-Tracks, records or cassette tapes.
  6. No encyclopedias, except Britannica, and none older than 5 years from the current year.
  7. No text books older than 5 years from the current year.
  8. No condensed books of any kind.
  9. No Iowa Code books, except current year.
  10. No homemade tapes or videos.

Please do not leave boxes of books outside the donation box.

Volunteer Opportunities
The Friends have many opportunities to volunteer throughout the year. If you have an interest in the following activities, contact us at CRFriends@gmail.com

  1. Picking up large book donations in the Metro area
  2. Becoming a board member
  3. Working on special projects - book sale, farmers' market, mailings etc.

Join us in making good things happen!

Download a printable Friends Application today.