About The Friends

Who We Are

The Friends of the Library is made up of people who care . . . people who care about books, about reading, about community.  Our members include parents who bring their young children for their first library card, adults who come to the Master Gardener’s program, families who participate in the summer reading challenge, and teenagers who come to research a school project.  Our membership is almost 400 strong.  If you are a member, your yearly donation allows us to make a substantial difference to the library every year.  If you are a member AND a volunteer working on the book sales, you are the backbone of the FOL.  We thank you all!

Friends of the Library Board

Deborah Collier, President
Madhu Sidhu, Vice President
Nina Newlin, Treasurer
Cynthia Saunders, Secretary

Carey Chaney
Peggy Christie
Nancy Connolly
Linda Foster
Joy Kim
Jean Sucharewicz
Clara Rankin, Board of Trustees Representative

If you are interested in serving as an FOL board member, please email us at friendsofthekcpl@gmail.com or pick up an application at the library, fill it out, and send it to Friends of the Kent County Public Library, P.O. Box 96, Chestertown, MD, or drop it back at the main library.  Our board meetings take place on the second Saturday of each month except July and August.  We meet from 10:00-11:00 a.m. in the meeting room of the main library branch in Chestertown.

What We Do

The Friends of the Kent County Public Library (FOL) is a nonprofit organization that supports the Kent County Public Library and promotes literacy and love of reading in the community. For over 50 years the FOL has been helping the Kent County library, contributing over $770,000 (so far!) for items and programs not covered by the library budget.

Here are just a few of the specific ways the library has used our contributions:

• Flooring in the hallway, the circulation desk area, and the public meeting room
• The Project 2020 renovation
• Training opportunities for staff members
• Book and audiovisual purchases
• FOL bookplates
• Flatscreen TV, projector and case
• Signature lighting for the Wave Room teenage space
• Folding tables and chairs
• Display case and shelving
• Author readings
• Children’s programming and materials
• The Dishi Bem Dance Troupe performance
• The Radio Jarocho Performance
• Funding of students completing the commitment of the Imagination program

(Please see the Archive section for a more detailed account of our past donations and activities.)

In addition to providing needed funds, the FOL is proud to point out the volunteers who put in many hours to make our book sales happen. These book sales are a community highlight twice a year and form an important arm of our contributions. On most Tuesdays from noon to 4:00 you can find us elbow deep in boxes of books, cleaning, sorting, and boxing these contributions and taking them to storage until they are brought out again for the Spring and Fall book sales. In addition to the book sales, these volunteers create pop-up sales of puzzles and audio-visual materials that add substantially to our funding of the library’s needs.

Would you like to volunteer?  Email us at friendsofthekcpl@gmail.com or drop by during our Tuesday hours to see what we do.