Friends of JCPL logo

Changes Coming to Friends

Laura Kepler, President Friends of JCPL

Laura Kepler, President of Friends of Jefferson County Public Library

As President of the Friends of Jefferson County Public Library (JCPL), I spent many hours thinking about our mission and how best to achieve it. One day, I ran across a quote from Baltasar Gracian that seemed to sum up what I had long been trying to articulate: Friendship multiplies the good in life. That is precisely what Friends of JCPL does. Through advocacy and support, we multiply the good of JCPL, helping it become stronger by building a vibrant community around it.

When I thought about our goals for this year (and beyond), I asked myself a simple question: How can we multiply the good by a greater factor? The Friends Council and I want to offer our Friends more. We want to offer our Library more as well. We will be implementing some changes that will accomplish both of these goals, including adding benefits to your Friends membership, like:

  • Discounts at Friends Holiday Sales
  • Discounts on Friends ticketed events
  • Invitations to Friends events

We’ll also be introducing a new Friends membership card. This card is made of a durable plastic that won’t only identify you as a Friend of JCPL, but will also get you all those great discounts at Friends book sales, including the Friends Gift & Book Shop at Belmar Library.

We will also be trying to cut costs by digitizing our Footnotes newsletter. It will still give you all the great updates you’re accustomed to, but in a digital format that will be emailed right to your home. This will allow us to give a higher percentage of Friends membership fees (which are tax-deductible donations) to support the programs we all love, like Summer Reading and Early Literacy programs for children.

Please take a moment to review some of the new benefits of Friendship. I certainly hope you will join us in multiplying the good and making Friends of JCPL stronger than ever.

2017 Friends of JCPL Membership Levels & Benefits

Effective April 2017

Individual                   $15-$24

  • Admission to Preview Night Spring Whale Sale
  • Admission to Preview Night Fall Whale Sale
  • 10% discount at Friends Gift Shop at Belmar year-round
  • Invites to Friends-only events
  • Friends e-newsletter
  • One Friends membership card

 

 Sponsor                       $100-$249

  • All the Supporter perks, and…
  • 10% discount at Friends Holiday Book Sales

 
Couple                         $25-$39

  • All the Individual perks, and…
  • One additional Friends membership card  (2 total)
 Patron                          $250-$499

  • All the Sponsor perks, and…
  • Free admission for two to a Friends ticketed event *
  • 10% discount at Friends Holiday Book Sales

 
Supporter                   $40-$99  

  • All of the Couple perks, and…
  • 10% discount on ticketed Friends events
  • 2 additional Friends membership cards (4 total)
 Conservator               $500+

  • All the Patron perks, and…
  • Free admission for two to two Friends ticketed events*
  • Special invitation to the President’s appreciation event

*This perk applies to the primary cardholder, not all individual cardholders within the membership.

/by

Thanks to our Donors for Year-End Gifts!

thanks-1314887_1920The end of each year brings happy thoughts and kind deeds that surround our traditional winter holidays, and there are two traditions at the Jefferson County Library Foundation that we always look forward to — Colorado Gives Day and our end-of-year appeal.

This past year was no different! I’m delighted to tell you that more than $14,000 was donated on Colorado Gives Day during the 24-hour giving campaign. Added to that, our mail campaign brought in generous additional contributions, resulting in a total of nearly $24,000 in year-end gifts.

Although the December weather was cold, here at the Foundation our hearts were warmed by the generosity of our many supporters, donors and library-lovers. Your special gifts help us uphold our mission: to support and enrich the capabilities, resources and services of the Jefferson County Public Library through fundraising and advocacy efforts that benefit our diverse community.

The recent winter holidays marked a time for us to celebrate and give thanks for all the good things in our lives. Now that we have settled into the new year, JCLF continues to celebrate and appreciate all those who help to support our Foundation and our local libraries. Thank you!

/by
Friends of JCPL logo

Friends Annual Meeting: March 17

Read more
/by

Spring Whale of a Used Book Sale: June 1-4

Read more
/by
This Above All cover

Join the Friends and author Mike Foster, February 15

This Above All coverFor the love of libraries! Want to become more involved with the Library? Meet new people? Provide ideas for new programs? Volunteer at fun events? Help raise awareness of the library? Help raise funds for Jefferson County Public Library to continue to meet the needs of all residents of the county?

If you love the Library, join us for our first meeting of the FRIENDS of the Jefferson County Public Library at the Golden location, on Wednesday, February 15th, at 6:15 pm.

This Valentine-themed meeting/event includes a “Share Your Love of Books” exercise and you’re encouraged to bring your favorite book and chat about it with a different person every four minutes in a progressive lineup. (Think speed-dating – but you’re not really looking for a mate, just a new friend or acquaintance.)

We’ll also have a visit from local author Mike Foster. Mike recently published his fifth book – a work of fiction – This Above All. We’ll have door prizes and refreshments. This is a great way to meet new people and learn about fun opportunities at the library through the FRIENDS of the JCPL and the JCPL Foundation. For all lovers of the Library. Free, but please register in advance at https://www.meetup.com/Innovators-Workshop. For: Adults, 16+

/by

No mystery here — our annual Rare & Novel benefit was a hit!

On Thursday, November 17, nearly 150 guests (including sponsors, volunteers, board members, donors and fans of the Library) joined us at Baldoria on the Water in Lakewood for our 15th annual rare-novel-16-7983-xl1benefit. As always, this event was held in support of our Jefferson County Library Foundation, and it helped us raise funds for the Jefferson County Public Library.

This year’s fundraiser was titled Holmes for the Holidays — A Rare & Novel Event, and (as you can guess) the evening centered on that famous literary icon, Sherlock Holmes. Our guests were first treated to a social hour where they were entertained by Rebecca Moritzky, a professional harpist, who provided just the right background sound torare-novel-16-8049-xl1 launch the special night. While guests mingled, they also previewed our vast silent auction — everything from sporting events tickets to shooting range certificates, and from lawn care to needle crafts.

rare-novel-16-8057-xl1Our event emcee and Board member, Neal Browne, added just the right polishing touches to the evening’s welcome and introductions, and — after our guests enjoyed a fabulous buffet dinner — Foundation Board President Tami Bandimere-Shrader proudly presented two special honors at this year’s benefit. Our 2016 Legacy Award was presented to Warren Roeske and his daughter, Allison Brigham, (above, right) for their generous support of the Standley Lake Library, while our first ever Partnership Award was given to Ben and Heather Mack, (left) owners of High Country Books.

We also gave special recognition to our evening’s honored guests: Jefferson County Sheriff Jeffery Shrader and his wife, Jane, along with Jefferson County Undersheriff Patricia Mundell and her husband, Larry.

Capping off the event, our guests enjoyed an original play presented by members of the local Colorado ACTS community theater troupe featuring Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson as they unraveled an intriguing (and amusing) mystery. The entertainment was highlighted byrare-novel-16-9291-xl1 the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department’s Deputy J.J. Smith (as Constable Smythe) and his sidekick, K-9 Thorn,  who helped our detective duo sniff out a series orare-novel-16-8080-xl1f clues and then nab the play’s sinister culprit!

I’m pleased to tell you that the evening helped our Foundation generate nearly $21,000! We appreciate everyone who participated in this year’s Rare & Novel benefit, including these key sponsors: The Jeronimus Family, Little Bear Inn, Bandimere Speedway, Pinkard Construction, Etkin Johnson Real Estate Partners, Solera Bank, Comcast’s Internet Essentials, Martin & Martin Consulting Engineers, and LeadersCove, LLC.

We are also grateful to our media sponsors: 93.7 The Rock radio and Colorado Community Media.

Stay tuned for news of our 16th annual event, which will be coming soon!

/by
Colorado Gives Day 2016 Logo

9 Reasons to Give to JCLF on Colorado Gives Day – December 6

Colorado Gives Day 2016 LogoColorado Gives Day is the largest one-day giving movements in the country, and it’s a great way to support the Jefferson County Library Foundation and the programs of the Jefferson County Public Library. What’s so great about it? Let us count the ways…

  1. On Colorado Gives Day, your donation is boosted by an incentive fund, a fund created by FirstBank and Community First Foundation to help your donation dollars go further.
  2. It’s easy. Making your donation online through ColoradoGives.org, saves you the hassle of snail mail, and it’s secure.
  3. You can spread your donation out. Instead of donating $120 at the end of the year, you can schedule $10-monthly donations, making donating easier on your budget.
  4. You can choose which Jefferson County Public Library program you’d like to support. On JCLF’s donation page, simply designate which program you’d like your donation to benefit in the “special instructions” box. Adult Computer Classes, Early Literacy, Library 2 You, Summer Reading—take your pick!
  5. You can donate in honor or in memory of a loved one, which makes for a great gift for the Library lover in your life!
  6. You can remain anonymous—completely anonymous. (Though that doesn’t mean we’ll be any less grateful for your gift).
  7. You can shout it from the rooftops—and even help JCLF win a prize! Simply post #COGivesDay and your favorite nonprofit profiled on ColoradoGives on FirstBank’s Facebook page. FirstBank will randomly draw five names and the nonprofit they posted will win the cash prize.
  8. Your donation is tax deductible.

The BIGGEST reason of all: Every donation supports the mission of the Jefferson County Public Library—to help build an educated and vibrant community by providing equal access to information and opportunities.

Why wait? Support JCPL programming today, tomorrow and for generations to come. Visit our Colorado Gives page by clicking here.

/by

Books & Bargains-Fall Whale Sale Recap

Whale Parking

Beautiful weather for this October sale.

Following on years of tradition, the Foundation’s Fall Whale of a Used Book Sale was held on the third weekend of October 2016 at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds.

As you can guess from the name, it was another enormous sale! Not only did it raise $61,000 for JCPL programs, but this year we broke from our usual tradition in a very different way.

Over the past few years, the rise of online book-buying and the decline of books in print have changed the book industry. And though there will always be loyal book lovers, our Foundation discovered that we just couldn’t sell as many books at the sales as we used to. So . . . we decided to focus on bringing fewer – but better – books to the sale. This meant that boxes of books piled under the table (usually two high) were absent in most sections.

Lower volume made for easier browsing, less clutter, and less hefting and hauling for volunteers, but it did not mean lower sales.

In fact, sales on the Friends’ Preview Night (Oct. 20) were more than $4,000 higher than in spring, and $5,000 higher than the previous Fall Whale Sale. Sales were perfectly on pace with the Spring Whale of a Used Book Sale, as a whole, and we attribute this to bringing in better books with good sales records.

While we’re excited about the results, we know that some patrons were unfortunately disappointed. Inventory went quickly, and customers who were accustomed to getting great deals on a bag of books on Sunday (the final sale day), didn’t find as many books left over to choose from.

As we strive to improve our Whale Sales, the Foundation will continue to bring out the best
books at bargain prices, and we’ll also work, as always, towards hosting even better Whale Sales for our Jefferson County book lovers.

The 2017 Spring Whale of a Used Book Sale will be held the first weekend in June.

 

LET’S GIVE A WHALE OF A THANK YOU TO OUR EVENT SPONSORS!
Our 2016 Fall Whale of a Used Book Sale made a big splash, thanks to these supporting businesses:

Westerra Credit Union
The Book Stop
Bean Fosters
City of Lakewood

Media Sponsors
93.7 The Rock radio
Colorado Community Media

In-Kind Donors
Chick-fil-A
Chipotle Mexican Grill
Golden Real Estate

/by

2016 Holiday Sales

holiday-snip

It might be a little early to trim the tree, but it isn’t too early to plan for our holiday sales!

We set aside the best books all year round just for these special sales, where you can find great gifts at great prices. Best of all–proceeds from these sales go back to help the Jefferson County Library Foundation and the programs and services of Jefferson County Public Library.

December 2 & 3: Columbine Library
10:00am-5:00pm (Friday) | 12:00-3:00pm (Saturday)

December 10 & 11: Standley Lake Library

10:00am-5:00pm (Saturday) | 12:00-3:00pm (Sunday)

December: Month-long holidays specials at the Friends Gift & Book Shop in the Belmar Library

 

/by
Colorado Gives Day 2016 Logo

What is Colorado Gives Day?

Colorado Gives Day 2016 LogoColorado Gives Day is the largest one-day giving movements in the country. Since its inception in 2010, Colorado Gives Day has raised $111.5 million for Colorado nonprofits, making it among the most successful giving days in the nation. Last year alone, donors gave more than 123,000 individual donations to 1,884 nonprofits totaling$28.4 million, breaking all previous records.

Colorado Gives Day is presented by Community First Foundation (CFF), a local nonprofit dedicated to fueling positive change in Jefferson County, the Denver metropolitan area and beyond, and FirstBank, Colorado’s second largest bank and one of the most philanthropic companies in the state.

To participate in Colorado Gives Day 2016, nonprofit organizations must meet CFF’s eligibility requirements and create, or update, a profile on ColoradoGives.org.

Every Donation is Boosted on Colorado Gives Day

This amazing success of Colorado Gives Day is largely due to the Incentive Fund. Community First Foundation and FirstBank each contributed $500,000 to create a $1 Million Incentive Fund. It increases the value of every donation proportionally, which means that everyone’s donation dollars get a little boost from CFF and FirstBank.

The Advantage of Donating Online

Not only will your donation dollars go a little further on Colorado Gives Day—December 6—but it also makes donating easy.

  • You can schedule a donation in advance, which means you can schedule your donation for Colorado Gives Day and not have to mark the calendar
  • You can schedule recurring monthly donations, so you can support your cause year-round and spread out your donation
  • You can help your nonprofit win a prize. If donating isn’t in your budget, you can still help your nonprofit by using social media. Simply post #COGivesDay and your favorite nonprofit profiled on ColoradoGives on FirstBank’s Facebook page. FirstBank will randomly draw five names and the nonprofit they posted will win the cash prize.

Supporting the Jefferson County Library Foundation on Colorado Gives Day The Jefferson County Library Foundation is part of Colorado Gives Day. To find our page on ColoradoGives.org, simply click here, or go to ColoradoGives.org and type in “Jefferson County Library Foundation” in the “Search for a Nonprofit or Fundraising Page” field and click on “Go.”

/by

Gearing Up for this year’s Rare & Novel Benefit

If you are a fan of mysteries, intrigue and guessing games, then this year’s Rare & Novel Event is for you! As you can assume from the title — Holmes for the Holidays – A Rare & Novel Event – we have chosen literary icon Sherlock Homes as the centerpiece for our 15th annual gala evening.

The event will take place on Thursday, Nov. 17, from 6 to 9:30 p.m. at Baldoria on the Water in Lakewood. We anticipate more than 150 guests will be in attendance and each one will enjoy a scrumptious buffet dinner, a silent auction and a brief awards ceremony honoring key Foundation and Library supporters.

thornreads1

Deputy JJ Smith and Thorn reading a classic.

As the highlight of the evening, our guests will be entertained by a fast-paced
theatrical mystery (courtesy of Colorado ACTS community theatre) where Holmes and Dr. Watson will solve an intriguing crime right before our eyes. Not only will the clues unfold during the live production, our guests will also enjoy the added sleuthing skills
of Thorn, a furry and four-legged detective who will help these detectives decipher a series of unusual clues (courtesy of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department K9 Unit).

sheriffs_logoI hope you will join us for this year’s fundraising adventure! Proceeds from our benefit will go toward supporting popular library programs that serve thousands of Jefferson County residents each year. These include the annual Summer Reading program, American Sign Language Story Times, and a new program for infants and new parents called Babies First Books.

Event tickets are available online ($70 person /$130 couples). Sponsorships are also available. Non-attending supporters can purchase ad space in our print program, starting at just $125.

Questions? Call us at (303)-403-5075.

/by

Lakewood Library Donation Room Closes

Effective immediately, large donations of used books and other materials will no longer be accepted at the east door of the Lakewood Library building at 20th and Miller. Please bring boxed donations directly to our warehouse, at 10790 W 50th Avenue, Suite 200, in Wheat Ridge, CO, Monday-Friday, from 9:00 am – 4:00 pm.  If you have more than six boxes, please make an appointment for the drop-off by calling 303-403-5075. Directions to our warehouse are available here.

We’re trying to manage operations as efficiently as we can. By receiving donations directly at our warehouse, we can reduce the cost of transporting the materials and increase our support of Library programs.

As you know, we rely heavily on your quality donations of used books and materials. We appreciate your understanding of this closure and hope we will see you soon at our warehouse.

Please share this information with your friends and families and, don’t forget – our Fall Whale of a Used Book Sale will be held Oct. 21-23 at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds. For more information, or to volunteer, visit our event page.

/by

Tickets Available Now for Annual Rare & Novel Event

std_holmesIt is hard to believe that the holiday season is approaching, and with it, our annual Rare and Novel event. For the 15th annual benefit, we are celebrating Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous character: Sherlock Holmes.

This festive fundraiser will be complete with formal dinner, silent auction, and themed entertainment featuring Colorado ACTS and a special appearance by the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department K9 unit.

Tickets are available online now: $70 for individual tickets and $130 for couples.

We are eager to share more details with you. Over the coming weeks, we’ll introduce you to our entertainment, tease you with menu options, and prepare you to bid on unique and gift-worthy silent auction items. Stay tuned!

Want to help make this event a success?
There are many ways to support this event from donating silent auction items to volunteering, attending, or even sponsoring a table. Contact us to find out how you can help.

/by

Holmes for the Holidays: A Rare & Novel Event

Read more
/by

Summer Reading a Success!

Did you hear the news? Jefferson County residents like you read a marathon of 27,564,728 minutes this summer as part of Jefferson County Public Library Summer Reading. What an achievement! Congratulations to JCPL, to everyone who participated in Go Read! Go!, and to the five winning schools in the new school reading contest!

ALL READERS:

  • 34,793 people registered for Summer Reading
  • 13,627 finished the program by meeting the minimum reading goal (39%)
  • 27,564,728 minutes were read

ALL READERS AFFILIATED WITH SCHOOL:

  • 22,245 of the total 34,793 readers affiliated with a school (64%)
  • These readers account for 14,426,380 minutes read (52.3%)
  • 13,627 readers met the minimum reading goal (61.2%)

ELIGIBLE READERS AFFILIATED WITH SCHOOL CONTEST: For the school contest, only preschool through grade 12 students were eligible to have their minutes count for their school.

  • 17,448 Jefferson County Public School preschool – grade 12 students registered for Summer Reading (50.1%)
  • 9,594 finished the program by reading and logging a minimum of 8 hours (54.9%)
  • 14,442,452 minutes were read for a school (52.3%)
  • School Contest Winners:
    • Preschool: Warder Preschool
    • Elementary: Pleasant View Elementary
    • Middle: Oberon Middle
    • High: Jefferson Jr/Sr High
    • Charter/Option: Addenbrooke Classical Academy

Find more details on Summer Reading results here.

/by

What Could Be Better than Books Galore?

We had a rousing good time at our recent spring Whale of a Used Book Sale, and I want to thank all of our loyal customers for once again making this year’s event a Whale of a Success! But now that it’s over, some of our customers may be tapping their fingers until the next Whale of a Used Book Sale. But wait no more!

New this summer, the Jefferson County Library Foundation is hosting another used book sale at the Jefferson County Courthouse! This sale — Books Galore! — will take place on Thursday and Friday, August 4 and 5, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. If you yearn for a Whale Sale, this smaller sale is bound to satisfy many of your book cravings, at least until our fall Whale of a Used Book Sale comes along.

Some of your favorite authors and books will be well represented inside the rotunda of the Courthouse, and we invite you to stop by and browse through the many new titles we have received since our last big sale. We’ll also have a table full of children’s books, too!

If you find that you have too many books at home, and need to make some room, please remember that our Foundation welcomes your book donations. You can either donate to us via your local Jefferson County Public Library, or (for larger donations), please bring your contributions to our offices located at 10790 W. 50th Avenue, #200, in Wheat Ridge. We are also looking for gifts of CDs, DVDs, LP vinyl records, antique maps and vintage books. As always, your gifts are tax deductible.

Thank you for supporting our local Libraries and the Jefferson County Library Foundation!

/by

Fall Whale of a Used Book Sale: October 21 -23

Read more
/by

Remembering the Gridiron Champions

On April 24th, 2016, we presented the first event in our Speakeasy Series – a one-hour Q & A featuring linebacker Shaquil Barrett and tight end Virgil Green, moderated by former 9News anchor Neal Browne.

The Speaskeasy Series was designed to be a unique, personal experience, rather than a traditional lecture. Fans and friends in attendance laughed and cheered as our Gridiron Champions shared their thoughts on team dynamics, the quarterback situation, and winning the Big Game.

As we reminisce about this special fundraiser, we are pleased to share with you some of our favorite moments. Be sure to join us for the next event in the series, to be announced!

A big thank you to Warren Tech for filming the event and for editing these clips for us!

/by

Whale of a Sale was Smooth Sailing…

Once again our small Foundation has pulled off a BIG event — the semi-annual Whale of a Used Book Sale!

Busy book-buyers fill the aisles at our 2016 Spring Whale Sale!

Busy book-buyers fill the aisles at our Spring Whale Sale!

This spring’s sale, held June 2-5 at the Jeffco Fairgrounds, was no exception. More than 3,500 book-buyers and book-lovers attended this year’s event, and they helped themselves to nearly 80,000 used books, CDs, DVDs, antique maps, LP records and more. New this year, we added in a Friends Preview night on June 2, we hosted an on-site book drive on Friday and Saturday, and we opened early on Friday morning for our Early Bird shoppers.

At the Whale Sale, everyone shopped until the (Chick-Fil-A) cows came home!

At the Whale Sale, everyone shopped until the (Chick-Fil-A) cows came home!

The best news of all is that we raised more than $65,000 at the event! These funds will be funneled back into our Jefferson County Public Libraries in support of programs and activities that include Summer Reading, American Sign Language Storytimes, Early Literacy programs, Jeffco Stories, the Culture Pass program, LibLab kits, and so much more.

We extend a heartfelt Thank You to everyone who joined us for the event, and most of all we want to thank our tremendous and dedicated corps of volunteers. We simply couldn’t produce such a fantastic event without their hours and hours of work in setting up the sale, the day-to-day customer service for our patrons, and the hard work taking down the displays, tables and boxing up left over books post-event.

Two of our happy and helpful Whale Sale volunteers.

Two of our happy and helpful Whale Sale volunteers.

 

Please join us for our next Whale Sale coming up October 20-23 at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds. If you’d like to volunteer, please let us know! We are always looking to add to our team.

/by