John Steinbeck said, “I guess there are never enough books.” The Friends of the Library might say there are never enough friends of books.

The Friends held is annual meeting and open house on Sept. 17 at the library. A short business meeting and the election of Board members Kathy Morris, Jim Wiemeyer, James Lobdell, and Marilyn Jackson preceded the speaker, Peter Fisher.

Fisher’s lecture about Madrona Point reviewed its modern history of preservation, land use issues, and the successes and failures of stewardship agreements with the Lummi Nation.

Currently, the Friends of the Library is about 200 members strong, but according to vice chair Lynn Carter they are always looking for more friends.

“It’s amazing how many people it takes to run the programs we do, but put them all together and it pulls off a huge effort every year,” Carter said.

According to Carter, the library does not have the funds to run all the programs that they provide, so the Friends of the Library raises supplemental funds.

“Each year, the library director will give us a list of the things that the library could use in the way of programs,” Carter said.

The needs of the library have included building maintenance, book buying for the collection, shelving, carpeting, program supplies for the summer reading program, publicity materials, the poetry program, holiday celebrations, ESL classes, and banned book week.

The Friends of the Library then goes to work fundraising.

In addition to the winter book sale, Christmas tea, and selling books in the library lobby, the Friends hold the summer library fair. The event brings about 2,000 visitors, and consists of fundraising auctions, a quilt raffle, food booths, music, and a large book sale. The volunteer effort takes many helping hands to cashier, organize the book tables, take out the trash, set up and tear down, control the traffic, and keep the books secure overnight.

In the last six months, the Friends of the Library has given $12,500 to the Orcas library and $500 to the poetry program.

“The Friends group is just integral for our entire budget,” Library Director Phil Heikkinen said.

Carter says becoming a friend of the library has its benefits besides supporting the Orcas community.

“It’s a lot of access to the library and a great opportunity if you like to read,” Carter said.

Carter says being a volunteer for Friends of the Library is not a lot of work because there are many hands put into the effort.

“It’s a lot of small things,” Carter said. “We have a lot of fun.”

New members of Friends of the Library can sign up using the envelope provided at the library near the copy machine. A basic individual membership is $15 annually and a family is $30.

Carter finds her involvement with Friends of the Library is gratifying work.

“I enjoy it myself because I’m benefiting something I love dearly,” Carter said.