Applegater Fall 2009 9
Help keep Ruch Library open three
days each week!
Why must we pay for extended hours?
Here’s the story: When the Jackson
County Library System re-opened in
November 2007, after a six-month closure,
it did so with only half its previous budget.
For Ruch, this meant being open only two
days, Tuesdays and Thursdays. In response
to our community’s outcry, the Friends
of Ruch Library began a fundraising
campaign to add hours for a third day.
With outstanding community support, we
raised money to open the library for four
hours on Saturdays.
Each year we must meet the
challenge of paying for our extended
hours, and we can only do so with your
help. The current cost per year is about
$12,300, or $60 per hour for 208 hours.
Some of the money comes from our book
sales, our annual Art Show & Sale, and
other special events, but the majority
comes from direct contributions. Every
penny raised for extended hours is used
for that purpose alone.
$60/Hour? Why so much?
It’s easy to think of a library as
being just materials and staff, but it takes
more than that to provide the services the
library offers.
That $60 per hour includes not
only staff salaries and benefits, but also a
share of the costs of running the county
library system.
It makes possible the computerized
catalog, material reserves (placing holds
for books, DVDs, audio books and more)
to be brought to our branch by courier,
programs like Children’s Summer Reading,
online reference answers, Interlibrary Loan,
collection development staff (deciding
what new books, CDs, and magazines to
buy in addition to standard best-sellers),
a small staff doing administration and
planning for the entire 15-branch system,
research databases and article files free
to the user but paid for by the library
system. It also pays for operational costs
like supplies, maintenance of the public
copy machines, and free internet service
and computer use for all.
Please help support extended hours:
• Make a monthly pledge––now
payable from your credit or debit card
for the first time! Pledge any amount. A
one-year pledge of $5 per month pays for
1 hour of library service! The goal we must
meet is 208 hours, an extra four hours per
week for one year.
• Make a direct contribution. You
can use the form at right. Contribute as a
gift to someone; we’ll send a thank-you in
your name (be sure to give details on form).
• Support our other fundraising
opportunities.
• Volunteer to ser ve on the
Fundraising Committee.
• Want to do more? Tell your
friends and neighbors of the continuing
need to financially support our library’s
extended hours.
Please use the form right next to this
article, to make a pledge or contribution.
Return it to us by mail or give it to a staff
member at Ruch Library.
Thank you for being a library user
and supporter!
Cynthia Cheney • 541- 899-1114
The Friends of Ruch Library
Ruch Library Programs
The Friends of Ruch Library are
happy to offer another eclectic roster
of programs for the coming year. We
hope you can join us to be entertained,
educated and inspired. There is no charge
for the programs, although donations are
welcome and will be used towards keeping
our library open those extra four hours a
week. For more information or to learn
more about upcoming programs, visit our
website: www.forl.org.
Bring your enthusiasm and voices
to a Family Sing-Along with Chris
Bratt, Karen Hardman, Vicki Gonzalez
and young friends in the Ruch Library
Community Room on Friday, October
9, from 7 – 9 pm. We will provide song
books and some rhythm instruments, but
bring your ideas for old favorites. This will
be music and fun for all ages!
Out of the Ordinary Oregon with
Connie Battaile is scheduled for Saturday,
November 7 at 1:00 pm at the Community
Room at Ruch Library. Battaile will use
historical photos and maps as she revisits
events and curiosities in Oregon history
that help define our state’s unique identity.
She is a local author, a retired reference
librarian, and has been an Oregon Council
for the Humanities scholar. Please join us as
we journey through floods, human foibles,
and of course, the famous exploding whale!
December brings us the Third
Annual Ruch Artisans’ Exhibit and
Sale. This display of some of the finest
Applegate’s artists’ work will be December
10-12 at Ruch Library from noon -7
pm Thursday and Friday, and 12- 5 Ppm
on Saturday. Plan to do your holiday
shopping locally this year, selecting from
candles, cards, ceramics, hats, jewelry,
mosaics, paintings, photography and
much, much more. Thirty percent of the
sales are donated by the artists to support
the extended hours for the Ruch Library.
A peek into the future:
January 8, 2010, Cindy Deacon
Williams, from the National Center for
Conservation Science, will be presenting
“Preparing for Climate Change in the
Rogue River Basin.” She will identify
stressors, risks and recommendations
for increasing resilience and resistance
in human, built, economic and natural
systems. This is one program you will not
want to miss!
Thalia Truesdell • 541-899-8741