FOSTPL President J.J. Estemac shares his 2007 message
March 21, 2007: Good evening ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the annual assembly of Friends of the St. Thomas Public Libraries. We are truly appreciative of your presence, which I interpret as your genuine concern and interest in our organization its purpose and objectives. 소액결제현금화
As you are aware, this organization is made up of persons who volunteer their time, their talents and other resources. We are grateful to those persons who have volunteered in the past and who are not able to continue due to personal circumstances. We are hoping others would join us and fill the vacancies that exist. We would not want to curtail any of our worthy programs due to a lack of volunteers. No matter how noble and laudable a program may be, without persons who are committed to carrying out the program it cannot function, it cannot survive. I therefore urge you, if you love this community get involved, volunteer your services and encourage others to volunteer. If more persons volunteer the burden of the activities is lighten because it is shared by more persons. We have general membership only once a year, but the Board and the committees meet more often as the mission may require.
We were able to elect a volunteer to be our Assistant Secretary, in the person of Professor Violeta Donovan. We have had to function this past period 카드깡 without an Assistant Treasurer. We have established our own website, www.fostpl.org, thanks to the talented Anita Davis, our Web Master, and a board member. We have been restructuring the Board and consequently the organization, seeking a balance between what we would like to accomplish and what resources we have to accomplish our objectives. The most precious and scarce resource is the human element – we need more volunteers! Presently we are involved in the following programs: The Hospital Cart, at the Roy Lester Schneider Hospital (carrying books and other literature around to patients and staff), Literacy Project (promoting literacy in the very young at day care centers and clinics), the Electronic newsletter (to keep us informed on the happenings). The Saturday Children’s Reading Program (promoting reading, getting the children familiar with the library and learning some handicrafts) and Kwanzaa Celebrations have been taken over by the library staff. The Summer Reading Program (in which students are challenged to read books over their summer vacations) is now a joint undertaking with the library staff. Book Collection and Redistribution (we collect books, magazines and other literature to be distributed throughout the community). 신용카드현금화
We need volunteers to keep these programs going. We want to rotate and/or relieve volunteers from their current assignments and give them a break. We have the following standing committees that need volunteers for them to function: The Advocacy Committee, which conducts activities that will promote the development and funding for public libraries on St. Thomas. The Program Committee is responsible for developing and conducting activities which promote the services of the libraries. The Library Volunteer Committee, responsible for the recruitment and organization of volunteers to provide services to the libraries at the direction of the Librarian. The Funding Committee is charged with conducting fundraising events, soliciting grants and gifts. We need volunteers to fill the vacancies on these committees.
There is an old saying I have heard when I was young, the expression by people who believed in service: “I would rather wear out than to rust out”. I urge you to volunteer and reap some wonderful satisfaction of self-worth and accomplishments by making a difference in the community with your services, with your contributions. Many of us are retired, and hopefully not too tired. The Creator has granted us a good measure of health which we can use to His glory by serving our fellow human beings, our community. Let us join forces to do what we can while we can as long as we can, wherever we can. The time is quickly approaching when we may not be able to do what we want, where we want to, when we want to. Let us be diligent in our service and leave a positive example to the next generation. 카드깡
I would like to invite you to visit our website, www.fostpl.org; we thank Anita Davis and David Simon for keeping the site up to date. I would like to thank Jason Budsan for his services as the lead person in Advocacy Committee. I would thank Carol Lotz Felix, past President, for her continued involvement after so many years. Carol has an abundance of energy and she uses it to promote many of the programs of thisorganization, including fund raising, the literacy project, book collection and redistribution, and the Saturday Children’s Program.
We propose to expand our focus to all public libraries; we consider the public school libraries to fall in the category of public libraries. Therefore we expect to advocate for improved library services in our public school libraries. But one fact is inescapable: neither the Department of Education nor the Board of Education appear to give the library service in the schools the importance it deserves; consequently it is not a priority to improve the libraries. Therefore, we will take on the challenge of advocating the improvement of our public school libraries to include the promotion of the profession of librarian in our schools through the Guidance Counselors and other means. We will be counting on your support; this is a community problem, to improve the education of our youth. Libraries are important units in the education system; it is the repository of information needed in the education process. I would hope we would also assist, eventually, the private and parochial school libraries. They all are educating our youth and should receive our attention and support.
And, I thank you, for your attention and support. 상품권현금화
J. J. Estemac,
President
2007