Another year is in the books for the Friends of the Moorestown Library, and it’s been quite the year! Thanks to the generous memberships and donations from the community, we’ve been able to support a wide variety of programs, events, activities, and offerings.

The Friends helped the Library to put on three big events once again this year: Comic Fest, Maker Day, and the Local Author Fest. These events drew big crowds coming to check out what was available at each. We also had membership tables outside to sign up new members and meet our current members attending each event. Speaking of events with membership tables, you may have also seen our booth and membership table at this year’s Moorestown Day.

The Friends once again sponsored Summer Reading, another annual tradition at the Library. This year, 1,200 readers read 8,936 books. They earned 1,136 prizes, including over 350 $10 gift cards, free book coupons, a picnic basket, and a $50 Barnes and Noble gift card.

Patrons love the many museum passes on offer at the Library, courtesy of the Friends. We offered over 25 passes this year, allowing many of our library patrons to get into local and regional world-class museums at no cost. Due to popular demand, we even added a second pass for the Please Touch Museum mid-year.

Thanks to support from the Friends, the Library offered a plethora of programs for both youths and adults to partake in. They also offered countless craft kits for the kids and an expansive collection of book-club-in-a-bags for the adults. Another perennial favorite, the Library once again hosted the Manhattan Short Film Festival this fall thanks to the contributions of the Friends.

The Friends’ support didn’t end at the library doors. Just outside, we purchased new umbrellas for the outdoor tables. We also funded Libby and Kanopy for patrons to access content from the comfort of their own homes (or wherever the wifi is!). Speaking of wifi, we continued to fund the hotspots patrons can take on loan for internet access wherever they need it.

To thank our members, we hosted the second annual Member Appreciation event at the Community House this fall. The event was no cost to Friends members to attend. Georgetti’s provided the catering, and many local businesses donated towards baskets that attendees could win by buying tickets to enter raffle-style. This year, we had musical accompaniment by Jazz Sanctuary.

The Friends on three successful book sales this year, including a specialty coffee table book sale. In a first for us, we had a member’s only night before the fall book sale that drew in quite a few current and new members to catch the early deals before the general public got access. Overall, many readers found their new favorites, wish-list books, and unexpected finds on our shelves and tables this year.

Thanks to everyone who supported the Friends of the Moorestown Library this year, and we are looking forward to a prosperous 2025!