With your help, we could do even more for the Ruch Library!
Written by:
Cynthia Cheney
The Friends of Ruch Library (FORL) has a variety of ways for you to enjoy helping out. Some things do not involve any meetings or even set times! For example, you might enjoy stocking one or two of our Little Free Libraries with new books once a month or so. That involves stopping by the Book Barn at the Ruch Library to pick out a box of likely books, then going to one of our Little Free Libraries to switch them out. FORL has four Little Free Library locations: Ruch Outdoor Community School, McKee Bridge, China Gulch, and Cantrall Buckley Park.
Or you might help by taking books to Goodwill. After donated books have cycled through our various sales locations and been on our outdoor “free” tables, eventually they must go on their way to make room for newer books.
Every Tuesday, volunteers sort new donations at the Book Barn—a great chance to get to know some of us and see our “operation”! We sort from noon to 2 pm until the hot weather starts, and then we switch to 9 to 11 am. Come by and give it a try. If you enjoy it, you can join us once or twice a month, or more often as you like.
Then there's helping out at Book Barn sales once a month (October through June), noon to 4 pm on the first Saturday of the month.
We need some digital expertise, from helping with our Facebook page to creating flyers and newsletters. Or perhaps you have ideas for events? Check out our Events Committee by emailing Cynthia at the contact information listed below.
Your energy and ideas can help us support the library, including offering affordable books and enriching programs to the community. Volunteering is a really rewarding experience, too, and the Friends of Ruch Library may be the right fit for you!
Upcoming events at the Ruch Library
All events are free and open to the public
Talking About Values Across Political Divides, with Lowell Greathouse, author of Rediscovering the Spirit: From Political Brokenness to Spiritual Wholeness, in the library community room. How can we learn to share our values in ways that bring us together rather than push us further apart? Lowell Greathouse is a retired United Methodist minister who served congregations in rural, suburban, and urban settings in Oregon, Idaho, and England from 1986 to 2019. In addition, he worked with community-based programs at Catholic Social Services in San Francisco, Community Action in Washington County, and United Way of the Columbia-Willamette. Lowell was born in Oregon and has family roots in the state that date back to the 1890s. 2-3:30 pm, Saturday, June 6.
Celebrating the Declaration of Independence at the library! July 8, 1776, was the first public reading of the Declaration (in Philadelphia). The time of our celebration was chosen to match a countrywide synchronous reading from Hawaii to Maine. At 3 pm, we'll have a group read-aloud of the Declaration. From 3:30 to 4, enjoy ice cream and a sing-along with John Frohnmeyer. These events will be in the Ruch Library Community Room, or outdoors if not too hot. Copies of the Declaration will be provided. 2-4 pm, Wednesday, July 8.
Book sales. First-Saturday sales at the Book Barn (by donation, cash only) continue on June 6, noon-4 pm. After a summer pause due to the heat, book sales will resume on October 3. But the air-conditioned A-Frame Bookstore will be open all summer from 1 to 3 pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Books and puzzles are $2, and children's books are 50 cents.
Cynthia Cheney