What You Always Wanted to Know
FOL Chair Elaine Kushmaul showing members where to deposit their membership dues or renewals in the Robson Library drop box
Dianna Lucas
You may know about Friends of the Library (FOL), you may even be a member, but how much do you really know about the organization? Read on to find out some interesting facts and details. As a member, you may already know many of these. If you’re not a member, perhaps you will decide to join when you learn a bit more about the organization.
Friends of the Library is a 501(c)(3) organization supporting an all-volunteer community-organized and community-funded library, open to all residents of Robson Ranch. The club is led by four officers who serve on a voluntary basis. The current chair is Elaine Kushmaul, and the vice chair is Deborah Diehl. Either are available to answer questions about FOL, as well as welcome recommendations for fundraising ideas.
Club officers are elected during the annual meeting each year, which is held in July and is open to the entire membership. Event planning, fundraising, and treasury reports are also discussed at this meeting.
Recently, FOL has used close to $1,500 of its funds to benefit the library and its patrons. This money was used to purchase 70 new titles spanning fiction and nonfiction genres, as well as two new picture books for children.
FOL also provides Book Talks at the library four or five times per year, providing knowledgeable presenters to discuss popular fiction and nonfiction books. At least four copies of each book that is used as the subject of one of these talks are purchased with funds entrusted to FOL by its members.
Even though audiobooks and movies on DVD are less popular due to digital access, we still have those formats available.
All Robson residents are encouraged to join FOL. Dues of $10 per person per year go to support the library in various ways. Annual dues payments are effective from July 1 through June 30 each year.
To join Friends of the Library, stop by the library in the CATC building and deposit a check for $10 per person in the FOL drop box on the checkout counter. Make your check out to Friends of the Library – Robson Ranch and include your name, email address, and whether or not you want a tax receipt. If requested, a tax receipt will be sent to your email address.
New Library Books Purchased by Friends of the Library
Joan Muyskens Pursley
Friends of the Library (FOL), an official Robson Ranch club, has made a large purchase of books for our library for three years, filling in sections that do not receive many resident donations. Each year’s new purchases are featured on the FOL bookshelf, which faces the information desk. When looking for something to read, do not forget to peruse this shelf unit. It is also where FOL puts copies of the books to be featured in its upcoming book discussions held in the library.
In February, FOL purchased 54 books for our collections. Among the fiction selections are Murder Crossed Her Mind: A Pentecost and Parker Mystery, by Stephen Spotswood; The Mystery Guest: A Maid Novel, by Nita Prose; Never Never, by Colleen Hoover; and James Patterson’s Obsessed (number 15 in the Michael Bennett Series) and Russia (number 13 in the Michael Bennett Series).
A sampling of the non-fiction books recently added to the FOL bookshelf:
• Being Henry: The Fonz … and Beyond, by Henry Winkler
• Book of Pet Love and Loss: Words of Comfort and Wisdom from Remarkable People, by Sara Bader
• Dinners with Ruth: A Memoir on the Power of Friendships, by Nina Totenberg
• Extraordinary Life of an Ordinary Man: A Memoir, by Paul Newman
• Ghosts of Honolulu: A Japanese Spy, a Japanese American Spy Hunter, and the Untold Story of Pearl Harbor, by Mark Harmon
• Lady Bird Johnson: Hiding in Plain Sight, by Julia Sweig
• Larry McMurtry: A Life, by Tracy Daugherty
• Lost Paratroopers of Normandy: A Story of Resistance, Courage, and Solidarity in a French Village, by Stephen G. Rabe
• The Mind-Gut-Immune Connection: Understanding How Food Impacts Our Mind, Our Microbiome, and Our Gut Immunity, by Emeran Meyer
Large-print books and books on tape are among the FOL purchases paid for by members’ tax-exempt donations and $10 annual dues. There is a box on the library’s information desk with envelopes for new and renewing members’ dues.
If you want to know if a specific book is in the library’s non-fiction or hardback fiction sections, go to the LibraryWorld link near the top of the library website’s home page (www.RobsonLibrary.org) and follow the easy-to-use directions. Note: Paperback fiction is not inventoried, so you have to come into the library to see what’s on those shelves. To get a Robson library number, needed for checking out materials, just ask one of the volunteer staff to add you to the patrons list.
‘I Have Found the Most Valuable Thing in My Wallet Is My Library Card’
Left to right: Haley, Bill, and Dee, librarians from the Denton Public Library, will be in the Robson Ranch Library on March 22 from 10 a.m. to noon. (Photo by Linda Bono)
Linda Bono
Former First Lady Laura Bush said that, and I totally agree! Library cards provide their holders with a wealth of possibilities. On Friday, March 22, from 10 a.m. to noon, staff from the Denton Public Library (DPL) will be in the Robson Ranch Library to sign up residents for DPL cards! Mark your calendar and plan to be there!
Robson Ranch residents are fortunate to be able to sign up for library cards from the Denton Public Library right here at Robson Ranch a few times a year. During the March 22 visit, DPL librarians will also provide residents with hands-on help with e-readers and digital audio books. This Denton Public Library Cards and E-Reader and Digital Audio Books Assistance Program has proved to be very popular with Robson residents over the years, so I repeat: Mark your calendars and plan to be there. When residents come to the DPL Program, they often register to borrow items from the Robson Library as well. So, while you’re there on March 22, take time to look and discover what items are available right here in our Robson Library, too.
In case you’re new to the Ranch, the CATC building is where you’ll find the Robson Ranch Library. You can access Robson Library information on the library’s website, www.robsonlibrary.org.
To obtain a DPL card, you will need to show a photo ID (driver’s license, state ID, passport, etc.) and some kind of bill/document with your name and address on it. If your photo ID has your current Denton address on it, that will suffice as proof of residency. Expiring library cards can also be renewed. If you need e-reader or digital audio book assistance, it would be best to bring your e-reader or device with you to the Robson Library for hands-on help.
On Friday, April 26, from 10 a.m. to noon, DPL Outreach Librarian Haley Phillips will be in the Robson Ranch Library to offer a detailed and informative program on using the DPL website, www.library.cityofdenton.com. She will also focus on all the things that make a library more than just books. Bringing your laptop or device from which you would access the library’s website will help you to more easily follow along with the presentation.
Public libraries offer much more than books these days! Obtain a Denton Public Library card on March 22, and on April 26 at the DPL website presentation, discover the opportunities your library card will bring. The presentation on the DPL website will explore the library’s online catalog, databases, trainings, and digital collection. Attendees will learn how to personalize their online accounts and how to navigate DPL online resources from their home computers.
You might want to check out the DPL website in advance of the DPL programs in the Robson Library to identify things you’d like to ask questions about.