{"id":74037,"date":"2025-12-03T06:13:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-03T06:13:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/74037\/"},"modified":"2025-12-03T06:13:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T06:13:07","slug":"plano-library-friends-celebrates-60-years-of-community-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/74037\/","title":{"rendered":"Plano Library Friends celebrates 60 years of community service"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWhether the Plano Public Library System uses the funds raised by the Plano Library Friends to bring in animal-toting guest speakers from the Dallas Zoo or to support continuing education for library staff, the nonprofit helps elevate the services offered across all five public libraries, Cecily Ponce de Leon, Plano Public Library assistant director, said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe give the library a check every year,\u201d Jennifer Shertzer, Plano Library Friends community engagement chair, said. \u201cThey decide how to direct the funds toward library programs, community outreach, continuing education and pilot projects.\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s happening?<\/p>\n

Plano Library Friends holds monthly board meetings and social events featuring guest speakers for members throughout the year.<\/p>\n

The biggest fundraiser is the quarterly book sale, which takes place in different Plano libraries. The next book sale <\/a>will take place Dec. 6-14 at Haggard Library. A members-only preview shopping night will be held Dec. 4.<\/p>\n

Approximately 4,000 people attend Plano Library Friends book sales. Attendees pay $10, which allows them to choose as many books as they can stuff in a provided bag.<\/p>\n

\u201cKnowing that the parents can walk out with a bag of books for their kids to put on their shelves that they will consistently go back to for weeks, years to come\u2014that is a lifelong impact,\u201d Plano Library Friends board President Emily Moore said.<\/p>\n

Who it\u2019s for<\/p>\n

Following a recent rebrand from Friends of the Plano Library to Plano Library Friends, the nonprofit has not only seen a surge in membership numbers but also a more diverse representation of the city.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince 2024, there has been a new influx [of members], and it’s very diverse in background, age, socioeconomic [status] and gender orientation,\u201d Moore said. \u201cThat wasn’t intentional\u2014it happened organically. When I look at the table of our board members, I see our city represented. It is beautiful to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe current Plano Library Friends board members represent a diverse age range and socioeconomic status. (Courtesy Plano Library Friends)The backstory<\/p>\n

The Plano Public Library System was founded in 1965, the same year Plano Friends of the Library Society was formed. Gladys Harrington was the director of the inaugural library system, a society participant and the namesake of the first Plano library\u2014Gladys Harrington Library\u2014which opened in 1969.<\/p>\n

Get involved<\/p>\n

There are a variety of ways to get involved with Plano Library Friends, including becoming a member\u2014$25 for an annual individual membership\u2014making a one-time donation, donating books for the book sale and more.<\/p>\n

\u201cI get a little dopamine hit every time I see someone has joined Friends. It feels like someone said, \u2018I choose you,\u2019\u201d Shertzer said. \u201cSomeone decided we were worth their $25, $50 or their $500. Something we said made them realize this is worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Quote of note<\/p>\n

\u201cOur staff are usually here, not because we love books, but because we love people, and that service element to the community is really what drives most of us here,\u201d Ponce de Leon said. \u201cTo see that reflected in members of our community … by giving their time … that is a vote of confidence. [Friends being] reinvigorated is prompting us to revisit some of our long-term wish list items.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Whether the Plano Public Library System uses the funds raised by the Plano Library Friends to bring in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":74038,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[160,162,36782,161],"class_list":{"0":"post-74037","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-plano","8":"tag-plano","9":"tag-plano-headlines","10":"tag-plano-library-friends-in-plano-plano-library-friends-near-me-volunteer-in-plano-volunteer-near-me-book-sale-in-plano-book-sale-near-me","11":"tag-plano-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74037"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74037\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}