Got something yummy on the stove this month? Snap a picture of your best pot of soup and send us the recipe. Email us, or share it on our social media pages with #soupweather.

From the FOLSOI Blog

Local Author –and “Ellie”–Donate to Harper Library

by Carol Brolley | Meet Ellie! She lives on Bald Head Island with her grandparents, Robin and Mark Prak. Ellie loves to explore the island, enjoying the beautiful scenery and scents, all while searching for the local wildlife that call Bald Head home. Ellie likes to chase squirrels, deer, birds, and sometimes even alligators. But Ellie’s favorite are the …  read more

You Say You Want a Resolution?

by Barbara Lemos | A few days into 2022 and you’re already wavering on your New Year’s resolutions? It’s not too late to reclaim the year and live it on your terms! Committing to daunting challenges when we’re exhausted, broke, and emotionally spent… and facing another spike in a seemingly perpetual pandemic is a recipe for failure. Forget those “SMART goals” you learned about at work …  read more

Donor news …

Matching Challenge Accepted … and Met!

Thanks to three anonymous donors in December, we had a challenge to meet … raise $1,000 in donations, and our generous challengers would match that amount. And we did it! Thanks to everyone who donated last month to help us meet our challenge. (Contributions marked with an * were matched.)

*Carol Brolley – $100 FOLSOI General Fund in memory of Joe and Helen King

*Ray and Joanne Commins – $100 FOLSOI General Fund

Ben Fisher – $50 Harper Children’s Programs in memory of Barbara R. Yount

*Diana Fotinatos – $100 FOLSOI General Fund in memory of Cosmo the pet therapy dog

*Mary Gorman – $100 Harper Collection in honor of her grandchildren, John, Cassie, Jacqueline, Kaelyn, Dylan, and Ethan

*Teresa Harrison – $400 Barbee Book Collection

*Melanie June – $500 Barbee Library

*Beth Klahre – $100 FOLSOI General Fund

Lynnette Lowrimore – Travel Books for Harper and Barbee Library

*Roseann Luipersbeck – $100 FOLSOI General Fund

*Linda McKinley – $50 FOLSOI General Fund

*Donna Morgan – $100 FOLSOI General Fund

*Donna Morgan – $50 FOLSOI General Fund in honor of Francine Menor for artistic contributions that enrich our lives

*Julie Paladino – $25 FOLSOI General Fund in memory of Sally and Nate Wilson

*Carol Pearson – $50 FOLSOI General Fund in memory of her parents, Jan and Frank Winters

*Suzanne Petino – $30 FOLSOI General Fund in honor of Eileen DeSerio

*Lucille Ribble – $100 Barbee Library

Rick and Marilyn Richards – $25 Barbee Life Long Learners in memory of Ken Morris

*Leslie Rosenberg – $150 FOLSOI General Fund in honor of Diana Fotinatos

*Gail Sawchuk – $50 Barbee Collection in memory of Donald Chapman, her father-in-law, a voracious reader greatly missed by everyone who knew and loved him

Sydelle Scardilli – $50 FOLSOI General Fund

*Jude Skowron – $250 FOLSOI General Fund

*Betsy Smith – $25 Barbee Collection in memory of Vivian Hoover

*Martha Stephens – $100 FOLSOI General Fund

*Kevin Wall – $25 FOLSOI General Fund in memory of Anne M. Wall

*Diana Weaver – $100 FOLSOI General Fund

*Joellen Wright – $100 Harper Library in memory of Barbara Yount

For our young readers …

Don’t forget to sign up a special little one in your life for Barbee Library’s Read Away Loot Boxes, a free monthly subscription program for local elementary and middle school readers. Sign up now February and March boxes.

 

News from FOLSOI …

Monthly membership update

We have had 59 new and renewing members since the November board meeting, including two Lifetime Members and 23 new members, for a total revenue of $2,275! Many thanks to all, and a warm welcome to our new members!

Volunteer update

It wasn’t all tinsel and cookie baking and decking the halls last month … our FOLSOI volunteers clocked in over 374 hours for the month of December! As always, the incredible Book Sale Team clocked the most hours for the month – 162 hours! They had a whopping 1885 hours total for the year 2021.

Diana Weaver reported the most individual volunteer hours for December … 35 hours! Diana Fotinatos had the most individual volunteer hours for the year 2021; in her dual roles of Past President and Publicity Chair she logged an amazing 633 hours! The second most volunteer hours reported for the year was from Barbara Lemos, our roving reporter and Twitter aficionado:  368 hours!

Past President and Ways & Means Chairperson Donna Morgan is the most diverse of our volunteers, recording hours in almost every category each month: Book Sales, Membership, Programs & Events, Publicity, Ways & Means, and Board Work.

Many of our volunteers recorded more than 100 volunteer hours for FOLSOI in 2021, including: Carol Brolley, Beth Klahre, Judith Kurzer, Donna Morgan, Julie Paladino, and Diana Weaver.

We know many, many more volunteer hours went unreported. A special thanks to the Strategic Planning Committee for their countless hours spent this year organizing and reporting on the Voice of the Customer.

The total number of FOLSOI volunteer hours reported in 2021 was an amazing 4,725 hours! Thanks for everything you do for FOLSOI! You all are amazing!

Book sale updates!

Our Used Booksales are back and better than ever!Here are upcoming sale dates and times, and our UPDATED safety guidelines.