||| FROM INGRID MATTSON for ORCAS ISLAND LIBRARY |||
Library Fair, run by the Friends of the Orcas Island Library (FOIL), will be held Saturday, August 9, this year. Record numbers of books have been donated and processed! If you’d like a headstart look at how many books have been boxed and sorted, take a glance at the tally sheet, which FOIL uses to gauge how many tables they will need. Additionally, my office has become a back-up storage unit as the FOIL storage unit exceeded its capacity a while ago.
The Library Fair started in 1954 as a Hobby Show featuring an auction and bake sale to fundraise for the library. Organized by the Friends of the Library for the benefit of the Library Association, hundreds visited the Hobby Show, the second of which raised $1,000 and was supported by a matching grant from the Seattle Foundation.
In the early years, the Hobby Show didn’t feature a book sale as many of the books we had were needed to circulate to library patrons (who had $1 memberships). Instead, exhibitors from across the island set up tables and sold wares. Trudy Erwin (seen here) was one such exhibitor, and her impact on the library can still be seen today in ceramics you may spot.
The Hobby Show enabled the library to stay open in the early days and funded essentials, like a septic tank, plumbing, and pipes for running water (in 1956). In 1959 the Hobby Show became the Craftsman Show. On exhibit were dolls by Maude Adams, hand-crafted lamps by Mr. and Mrs. Frank Russell, woodcarving by Zoa Cowden, handmade aprons by Miss Doris Joyce, and leatherwork by Joyce Rodenburger. By 1961, over 2,000 people attended the “Craft show,” enjoyed hot dogs and coffee, bought $75 in books, and shopped at 16 different craft departments.
By the late 1960s, the Library Fair (as it became known in 1965) was a huge event with folks coming from around the San Juan Islands to hunt for bargains, and islanders banded together to support the event that was responsible for almost 100% of the library’s annual funding.
“The Island had been scoured for White Elephants, canvassed for talent, and cajoled into exhibiting, contributing, and
donating. No one who could boil water was left untelephoned and coaxed into baking; no one whose thumb was even a faint chartreuse was not pestered for plants and flowers; all known possessors of attics were screened for antiques and rarities….”
1973 marked the first year a quilt was created for fundraising. As with every quilt created over the years, talented islanders put in hundreds of hours of work (800 hours in 1977) creating each square. Among those responsible for the 1973 quilt are Marcia King, Polly Klauder, Dennis Cullen, Pat Monk, Mike Lawless, Lydia Henke, June Dallas, Mary Babbitt-Cook, Colleen Schifsky, Julie Titus, Jean Hoffman, and Tim McGovern.
Over the years, the Library Fair has evolved into a large-scale book sale and includes entertainment, kids’ crafts, and a rubber duck race to raise money for a fund created in memory of a dedicated volunteer, Ken Gibbs. The Library Fair is entirely run by the Friends of Orcas Island Library, an all-volunteer group of folks that work to raise funds to support the library’s Summer Reading Program, our collection, facilities needs, and more. As Ted Grossman put it in 1986, “The Orcas Island Library…represents everything that’s good about life in the San Juans. It’s the story of people working together…All of us could find a million excuses to be doing something else. Fortunately, a group of islanders continue to resist these temptations every year because they believe so strongly in the local library.”
Books are generally $1–$2, and there are scores of treasures to be found. Please join us at the library Saturday, August 9, to be a part of this incredible, fun Orcas Island tradition.
**If you are reading theOrcasonian for free, thank your fellow islanders. If you would like to support theOrcasonian CLICK HERE to set your modestly-priced, voluntary subscription. Otherwise, no worries; we’re happy to share with you.**