Join us for a night of Iowa Trivia at the Library!

Did you know that Oct. 16-22 is National Friends of the Library Week? While we don’t have an official “Friends” group for the Washington Public Library, we DO have the “friendship” of the Washington Free Public Library Foundation (WFPLF) which works in much the same way that a “Friends” group would and so we’d like to take a few minutes (and a few words) and celebrate the great contribution that they make to our community!

The Foundation is currently made up of a 10-member Board of Directors that meets together on a quarterly basis, though in reality, they actually spend a lot more time than that working on the Library’s behalf. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, they are dedicated to financial assistance, innovative leadership, and advocacy to enhance and support the services and programs of Washington Free Public Library.

Right now, the WFPLF board is planning the “Nothing But Iowa Trivia Night” for the evening of November 3 at the Washington Public Library. The event will pit 12 4-member teams against each other to see who knows the most about Iowa! A silent auction of Iowa-made and themed items will also be available and bids can be taken from the general public before the event (between October 20 and Nov. 3), as well as during the evening of the trivia contest.

The Foundation has in the past and will continue to offer opportunities for the Library to provide programming and services that would not otherwise be possible. Most recently, the WFPLF teamed with the Riverboat Foundation to fund the Library’s 1000 Books Before Kindergarten program that will debut in November. In addition, the Foundation has recently assisted in rounding out the Library’s digital collection by funding the Kanopy streaming video service, as well as Mango Languages language learning service. Users of the Bridges eLibrary also appreciate the funds WFPLF has donated that make popular eBooks and eAudiobooks available much more quickly to our patrons!

Our Library is fortunate to accept many generous donations from library supporters that are made directly to the Library. These funds are always greatly appreciated, but we also want donors to understand that donations of this type must be deposited in the City’s Library gift account and do not offer the same flexibility or ability for investment and growth that donations to the Foundation can offer. Donations to the WFPLF can be made in a number of ways: Checks made out to WFPLF can be mailed to or dropped off at the Library (115 W. Washington St). In addition, the WFPLF has an endowment with the Community Foundation of Washington County and donations to that endowment can be made online to the Washington Free Public Library Foundation Friends Fund through the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation site (https://www.gcrcf.org/)

You can also support the WFPLF by getting your Iowa Trivia Team together and joining us on November 3! And finally, we hope that when you see Karen Moenck, Doug McBride, Brooke Hanson, Al Larios-Hernandez, Patty Stutzman, Mike Moore, Tamera Alexander, Alisha Davis, Ed Lins and Kevin Flannery around town you’ll thank them for their service to our library and community!