Post | Friends and Volunteers

The April 8th F&VOCFPL general membership meeting was packed with new information and new ways of doing things! This new website was unveiled AND the new procedures for acquiring tickets for the Annual Author’s Luncheon were discussed. Meetings get a bad rap at times because they lack camaraderie. Not so with the F&VOCFPLs. That’s what makes this a meeting to look forward to for those who belong—lots of you had to be there moments and LOTS of great, forward-thinking ideas!

New F&VOCFPL Members

After the April 8 F&VOCFPL meeting, members moved to the Headley Room to partake in an opportunity to socialize, to eat a nice lunch, and to welcome new members. One test of the viability of any group is just that—new members. The F&VOCFPL welcomed 4 to our group—Jean Bush, Terry Stark, Joan Sambucci, not pictured—Barb Piston.

Sandy Crescenzo, President F&VOCFPL

F&VOCFPL President, Sandy Crescenzo, thanked the current members for their dedication and enthusiasm through their diligent support of the Ocean City Free Public Library. Sandy welcomed the new members and looks forward to their support and their new ideas in support of the F&VOCFPLs’ goals of promoting the OCFPL and literacy.

Chris Maloney, Ocean City Free Public Library Director, thanked the F&VOCFPLs—both long-standing and new—for their generous and diligent support of the OCFPL. He looks forward to the many projects and contributions provided by the F&VOCFPLs that help make the OCFPL a primary stop for information and resources for visitors, current and new Ocean City, NJ residents.

Chris Maloney, Director OCFPL

While the decibel level may have been high at times, the talk revolved around HOW the F&VOCFPL members can work together to generate a greater understanding of the valuable resources available from the OCFPL and generate of love of learning through increased literacy. And that…was an exciting, LOUD conversation!

Capturing the excitement, the enthusiasm, and the importance of projects, programs, and events is a behind the curtain responsibility that ensures the level of commitment and the support of the F&VOCFPL for the library is documented, and yes…immortalized. As new ways of communicating emerge—such as this website—and different technologies become recognized as vehicles for effective communication, it is important to celebrate the efforts that provided the foundation for preserving the F&VOCFPL contributions. Thus, a huge debt of gratitude is owed to Cheryl Kelchner (see UPDATE below)* who diligently chronicled every event for over a decade and memorialized the experiences in scrapbooks.

To honor this, the F&VOCFPL scrapbooks will be on special display in the Ocean City Historical Museum from April 11th through April 27th, 2013. The scrapbooks have been donated to the Ocean City Historical Museum thereby preserving the memories…forever!

In addition to being an enthusiastic cheerleader for the efforts of the F&VOCFPL, above all, Cheryl is an artist. Cheryl’s talent affords the F&VOCFPL an opportunity to communicate the work and the support of the F&VOCFPL through this special medium. While technology might afford different and (almost) immediate access to information, any and all media that enables members and visitors to appreciate the services of the Ocean City Free Public Library is critically important. Cheryl’s continued documentation via the Bulletin Board provides a tangible artifact for easy access by all. Enjoy the exhibit AND the bulletin board!

UPDATE: F&VOCFPL members—Barbara Weber & Anita DeSantis—were diligent keepers of the scrapbooks prior to 2008 when Cheryl assumed this responsibility.