Hello and happy New Year to the Friends of the Urbana Regional Library (FURL) and fellow community members. Welcome to our new Blog. Here we plan to update the community about FURL announcements, meetings, and how FURL is fulfilling our mission “to support, promote, and increase the public use of the Urbana Regional Library.”

On January 14, FURL held our first meeting of 2020. We were excited to see several new faces at the table and look forward to everyone’s added contribution. According to our Membership Committee, FURL welcomed 17 new members in 2019.

January’s agenda included several topics including our Mini Holiday book sale held in December; our continued effort to sort donated books and prepare for our Spring book sale in April; and a proposal/ request for new items for the Children’s department.

The holiday book sale was a fun experiment and success. We raised more than $250 and felt it was a great opportunity to participate in a library event and engage with the community.

The Spring book sale will take place April 4th and 5th in the downstairs community room. We’d like to thank the community for their generosity. There has been an abundance of donations just this month and our volunteers have been diligently sorting and organizing the incoming books.

The board also approved a proposal presented by library Director, Tara Lebherz, for new blocks, puzzles, food, play money, and additional materials to “refresh” the Children’s World Market. We are excited to see the new toys in action.

Our next FURL meeting will take place on February 11, at 6:30 pm. in the upstairs conference room. This will be FURL’s annual meeting. The general public and all FURL members are invited to attend.