Announcing the Friends of NPL Celebration Program

In recent years, the Walk of Fame at the heart of Pullman’s downtown has given us all a chance to regularly learn or recall the names of those instrumental to the development, leadership, and prominence of our community. While doing errands downtown, I often find myself reminded that our lives have been influenced by these individuals. The paving stones allow us to recognize a figurative truth: that we stand on their accomplishments.

You now have a similar opportunity to honor those individuals who have made a difference in your life and the life of your family, and to have these individuals recognized by our community at one of its public centers—Neill Public Library. The new Celebration Program sponsored by the Friends of Neill Public Library allows you to donate funds for the purchase of library materials in honor or memory of someone special to you. These items will be furnished with a bookplate so that every future user will know that the item in their hands honors the person whom you have designated.

Maybe you have a best friend who adores crime thrillers or books on gardening. Maybe you have a family friend who loves movies. Maybe you’ve recently lost a senior important to your life who relied on audiobooks to continue a lifelong love of books. Certainly we all have teachers and mentors whose influence on our own lives or the lives of our children has been profound. What better way to honor or memorialize these people than by making their passion—and their influence—available and visible to our community in a way that will serve so many others. What’s more, every time someone takes that item off the shelf or checks it out, they will see the name of your honoree and know that that person made an impact on someone. Like our Walk of Fame, the people you cherish in your life will be honored in very real and practical ways.

For example, this kind of program can be a way for families in the community to celebrate the birthdays of their children and of their children’s friends. Rather than purchasing toys for birthday parties, the birthday child and his or her parents can request donations for children’s books for their local library, which then would note the name of the birthday child on the book plate.

Celebration donations of any amount will be honored, but the approximate purchase price of a variety of library materials will soon be available, along with a donation card, both on the Friends of Neill Public Library website and at the service desks at the library. The process is easy, the donation is tax deductible, and the legacy is lasting. I encourage you to celebrate someone and make our public library a place where the impact of others on your life adds another layer of meaning to the community resources we share!

by Karen Weathermon,

President, Friends of Neill Public Library
Published in Moscow-Pullman Daily News