The Friends of the Bedford Public Library, Inc. was established in June of 1977, with a charter of 39 members. The library, which served the entire city and county of 46,000 residents, was only a single library building with less than 2,000 square feet. The organization was incorporated in 1978. The Friends organization was established in support of the Bedford Library as a fund-raising organization and a conduit for volunteer service in the library itself. While the organization started out encouraging volunteer work in the tiny library, the Friends also saw their fund-raising efforts as a way to supplement the library’s limited budget. The group also saw themselves as advocates for the building of a countywide library system and for a vastly expanded Bedford (City) Library facility. As early as 1980 the Friends petitioned the city and county governments to develop a regional library system. By 1980 the Friends were holding two Book Sales a year which netted between $200-$400.00 each. In 1983 an anonymous donation of $10,000 was received for the expansion of the library.

In 1984 the Friends still had a tiny budget and were content to donate $2,000 and thousands of volunteer hours to the library. Membership was slowly climbing. This low-key growth and level of donations continued until 1991 when the monetary donations suddenly doubled to almost $4,000 a year. Within two years the Friends would step up to the plate and transform their organization by pledging $40,000 to purchase an elevator for Central Library which was finally scheduled to be built. The construction of Central Library began In December of 1992. The pledge was paid off in 1996 and by 1998 the Friends were giving an average of $9-10,000 in annual support to the library in gifts. In 2000, to celebrate the 100th Birthday of the Bedford Public Library System the Friends donated $20,000. This contribution brought their total gift giving to over $100,000 in twenty-three years.

In 2000 the budget was $20,010.00 with a hard-working board of seven individuals and a membership of around 100 individuals.

Contributions totaling:

Specified	$239.00
Unspecified	$130.00
Dues of	$3,620.00
Book Sale income of	$7,534.00
Cookie Sale income of	$1,409.00
Copy machine revenue of	$5,890.00
Interest of	$1,470.00

The organization has made a variety of purchases over the years. These include microfiche equipment, microfiche of the Bedford Bulletin's entire publication history of over 100 years, copy machines, type writers, display racks,a stage and lighting for the Bedford Room, an oriental carpet, cherry display cabinets, chair molding which allowed the hanging of public art shows in the building and a stove in the meeting room. This is addition to thousands of dollars for books, compact discs, videos, software and periodicals.

The Friends have also been instrumental in developing programming for adults and children as the LIbrary’s budget has been limited. Since 1995, the Friends have hosted an annual quilt show featuring contemporary quilts and which attracts around 900 people to the library over 10 days. We have hosted numerous authors, including Sharyn McCrumb, known for her fiction which celebrates the Appalachia area and David Baldacci, another New York Times Best-selling author. Most popular have been the dozens of musical performances, story tellers, how-to, hands-on workshops on a variety of topics from origami to book making. The Friends also have a history of hosting numerous art exhibits each year from an Annual Membership Art exhibit to exhibits of the work of locally recognized artists.

The Friends do not receive any monies from the city or county governments. The library is part of a larger library system which serves both the city and county of Bedford so that budget allotments from each governmental body are made based on circulation figures at each library branch. All libraries are open to both city and county residents.

The Friends were the first and foremost organization involved in lobbying hard for the passage of a 7 million dollar bond referendum to build 5 county libraries as part of the library system. The Library Board was not permitted to use public funds to lobby on behalf of the library, so it fell to the Friends to do so. The Friends purchased advertising, launched a "letter to the editor" campaign and spoke publicly to urge the passing of the referendum. It passed resoundingly.

Literacy & Books for Babies

The Friends have long supported the promotion of literary in our community and since 1995 have funded a Books for Babies program. Parents fill out our postcard with the name of their newborn infant and mail it to the library. The Friends in turn purchase a book for their child which is put into the collection. The parents are notified and allowed to check the book out first. We encourage parents to read to their children often and early and to use the resources provided by the public library. We add around 100 books to our collection each year through this program and we hope that we are able to inspire new readers from a very early age. Friends money is also given annually to support the summer reading programs (both children and adult), and any other children's programs as requested. The Friends have brought numerous children's authors, storytellers and musical programs to the library as well.

Over a decade ago we established the Book Endowment Fund, which is a certificate of deposit of restricted funds. The principal money cannot be touched, but the interest is given each year to the library to purchase new books. The fund currently stands at $13,000+.

Each year the Friends honor the dedicated staff of the library by preparing an elegant home-cooked luncheon for the entire library staff of fifty individuals countywide in appreciation of their dedication and hard work. Staff work on staggered schedules to make sure that they are able to attend . Each staff person is given a small gift from the library in appreciation of their service. The Friends also have established a $500.00 annual scholarship fund for the library staff at Central who are pursuing education or training relevant to their library employment.

Fund-raising efforts include two book sales a year, one in May and other in September which net around $7,000 a year. Book Racks purchased by the Friends in the lobby at Central allow for an on-going Book Sale. A copy machine, leased by the Friends, allows the library patrons to make copies and the organization to net $7,000. annually. A Cookie Sale in December organizes over 100 bakers who donate a batch or two of holiday cookies to the Friends. Two pound boxes are carefully packaged in an all day marathon packing session, decoratively wrapped and sold to eager members of the community. This normally nets about $1,200. Donations collected at our concerts enable the Friends to continue to bring a wonderful diversity of quality music from around the world to Bedford. Other smaller fund raising activities have included selling library book bags, note cards of the library building, and book lovers calendars to name a few.