July 12, 2016 – In the first meeting of our new Rotary administration and the first meeting at our new meeting location, Brittany Mathis brought us a message about the Charleston Friends of the Library and the programs they support to enhance reading and much more in our community. Mathis graduated from Hampton University and taught English in a high school in China right out of college. A native of Seattle, she has been executive director of the Friends of the Library for a little over a year.
The Friends of the Library was started in 1982 and in that year earned about $200 in support of the library. Today the Friends of the Library raise over $100,000.00 annually to support over 6,000 programs the library provides in our community. Mathis asked us how we most recently used the library and the answers she received included historical research, children’s programs and just getting books and other media for pleasure. She relayed how these are just a few of the benefits the library brings to us. The programs supported by her organization help children learn to read, give residents a vehicle to find jobs and provide tax clinics to assist us in filing those returns we all find so, well, taxing. One of the most popular programs the Friends support is the Summer Reading program for children, but the activities of the Friends spans the whole year. Continue reading “Brittany Mathis – The Charleston Friends of the Library”