When the 'Friends' was founded in 1995, times were tough in Ontario. We knew that there was
a very real threat to library funding and were determined to raise as much money as we could.
We knew we had to start small, because we were a new organisation and we needed to let
people know we existed.

We could never have envisaged at that time, how much we would grow and how
responsive the community would be.

At our first meeting in late October 1995, Jan Mason came up with two great ideas,
which we implemented right away. The first was to sell some meaningful Christmas decorations.
We bought boxes of red Christmas tree balls and advertised them for sale with the year printed
on one side and the name of a familymember on the other. A gold ribbon attached for hanging on
trees and they were done. We took orders and Jan painted them and they were sold for $2.00 each.

A small fund raiser, but a good start and people got to know that there
was a Friends of the Library group in Madoc.

Jan's other idea was to sell 'Shelf Plates.' This was really successful and if you look around
the library you will see lots of names of local people, who for $25.00 have sponsored a shelf.
The children's library plates only cost $10.00. This is an on going project, so contact avril@vrx.net
if you would like to see your name, or that of your child or grandchild, on a shelf in the library.

We also invited the public to become Patrons of the library by donating $250.00. Their names are on a
plaque in the library and this also, is an on going project. If you wish to become a Patron of the library
it can be done by pledging $250.00 over 5 years. Phone Avril at 613-473-5296 for details. Both these
ideas are popular for memorial donations.

Since that initial fundraising effort, we have grown from strength to strength. We had garage
sales, raffles, Christmas Concerts, bake sales and sales of Christmas baking, all successful
projects.

In this way, we raised funds and made our presence felt in the Community

Presently we sell Break Open tickets at Dollar Daze. Every penny of the funds from this
is given directly to the library for books, as there are strict rules as to what we can do
with this money. It is kept in a separate account from all other funds. If you regularly
buy these tickets, why not support the library by buying them at Dollar Daze?

THE FOODLAND STORE

Madoc Foodland helps us by allowing us to cash in their register tapes. These are collected
at the library, The Bookworm and by students at Madoc Public School. We collate them
and total them then submit them to Foodland. They are redeemed for $1.00 for every
$300.00 worth of tapes which is a great fund raiser.

We offer our thanks to Gord Johnston and Lorne Traves for their help in these two
fund raisers. Please help us help them by patronising their stores as often as you are able.