Hi, my name is Barbara Linder, and I am the President of the Friends. I would like to tell you about the work I do in our community and how it all connects to our wonderful Library.

In addition to my duties as president I am a Commissioner of Human Relations for the City. As one of my outreach activities in the community, I volunteer each week at the HOMELESS OUTREACH at All Saint’s on Santa Monica. Here is a photo of me with some of my friends at the outreach program. Do you see all the books? Those books are from all of you!

Our own Mickie Berg and Evelin Farkas (and their corps of dedicated “cage volunteers”) pack up duplicate paperbacks for me each month and I bring them to the program, where we have a free mini-bookstore. All of our books are donated by the community of Beverly Hills, so you all are helping the healing process of some of our most vulnerable citizens.

Another activity supported by the Friends is the TEEN ZONE KNITWITS program. Each week, knowledgeable knitters (including yours truly) meet with interested B.H. teens. They work on projects that can be donated to children’s hospitals, such as baby hats and blankets, and we help them with their knitting skills. The teens can acquire community service points and I must say we all enjoy the comradery. I love teen literature, so I pick up lots of good suggestions.

These are just two examples of many projects supported by the FRIENDS (I will describe more of our activities in future articles). Please join us this year and help us to preserve and advocate for our priceless library, judged to be among the finest in the country. Please click here to download a membership form. All membership applications should be mailed to The Friends of BHPL at 444 North Rexford Drive, B.H. 90210