Elaine Winquist, Duxbury Free Library Director, told me I should check them out, the Friends of the Duxbury Free Library – the Friends. I swear she had a twinkle in her eye, and she was certainly beaming. She used words like “fun” and “energy” and “laughs.” Apparently, the world of serious volunteer library support is not the stodgy, dusty wasteland I might have suspected. Had I not been inadvertently left behind by a series of unforeseen excuses, I would have interviewed current Friends President Sarah Keating, or Deborah Hill Bornheimer, the group’s founder (with “a team of dedicated volunteers” in 1976). Debbie, you should remember, was singularly instrumental in the funding and organizational drive that enabled the town’s renovation of the Alden Upper Building and the move from the beautiful but unworkable Wright Building.

Elaine told me the Friends website (www.duxfol.org) is extremely slick (my words). I looked for their announcement of the winner for their latest essay contest, a Valentine’s Day theme entitled “What Do You Love About the Duxbury Free Library?” I couldn’t find the winner’s announcement, but if you click on the pink Valentine on the welcome page you can read the all the entries. The contest is over, but you can still share your answer in the Guestbook postings.

I had nothing to do with the contest. I especially noticed Olivia Nichols’ piece: “I love the library because it’s so bright and sunny with so many windows – it feels like a home when you go there. It’s big and you can find so many books and information in it. Thank you for making our library so great!”

As an old nomad at heart, I understand her love of the space and her sense of the power of place in our lives. Every library is unique, yet they are universally the same. Ours however, offers the added comfort and excitement of bright spaces. I wish I was napping there right now, thanks to Olivia’s imagery.

Zayla Schaeffer wrote, “…there is absolute freedom as long as you hold a library card in your hands.”  Joey NeJame echoed a similar theme of liberty and love, writing: “I love to go to the Duxbury Library because my mom never says ‘no’ to anything about the library because she likes it there… she says ‘yes’ to anything in the library. I love the Duxbury Free Library because it has the best books ever. Ever.”

But freedom and love have a price. The good news is that we can share the cost. Membership in the Friends is $10 for children, $50 for individuals, and $75 for family membership. It may not be the right analogy, but I used to spend $75 for a carton of cigarettes. Of course, there are higher levels of support, but these are the basics. Don’t expect a deal on overdue books or the like. Membership is for supporting the library, not bleeding it dry. Besides, what library friend would hoard a book? Friends are more likely to help buy a new book. Indeed, the Friends have raised some $200,000 since 2000.

But they do have a trim and handy online gift shop, with items ranging from a FOL sticker ($3) to exquisite replicas of the whimsical Children’s Room mural by local artists, Anna Conway and John Hodany. The mural is offered in two sizes, 36”x13” ($200) or 24”x10” ($125).

I’m sure many libraries have Friends organizations, but our library is unusual. Organized as a town facility, the Duxbury Free Library also has an autonomous incorporated board. In other words, from its founding our library has included and relied on both public and private support. This means that your support, over and above your taxes, is essential. The result is, as Olivia Nichols put it, is a place that “feels like a home when you go there.”