About 25 representatives from different Friends of the Library organizations in Minnesota met Thursday to talk about different ways to help support their libraries.

The event was called Friends Meet Friends, hosted by the Great River Regional Library (GRRL) at the headquarters in St. Cloud.

Friends representatives from Waite Park, Delano, Big Lake, Clearwater, St. Cloud, Monticello, Kimball, Cold Spring, Annandale, Rockford and Little Falls all sat down in groups to share ideas to make libraries more successful.

Associate Director of Collection Development at St. Cloud Jami Trenam opened with a few words about advocacy.

“You’re all here tonight because you love libraries. Libraries in some way, shape or form have probably transformed your lives,” she said.

Trenam said libraries are supported in big part by counties, so telling county commissioners why libraries matter is one way to keep the funding going. 

“Advocacy is one of the biggest things everyone can do beyond your efforts, energy and dedication to the library,” she said. “Telling everyone you know about it and making sure your family and friends have library cards. Advocacy is awareness.”

She said over 9,000 kids signed up for this year’s GRRL Summer Reading Program, and Friends groups played a big part in that success by funding many of the prizes.

Each Friends group has its own way of raising funds, and that was part of the focus during the round-table discussions.

 Communications & Development Coordinator Breanne Johnson presented the groups with three topics:

* Discuss a successful fundraiser other than a book sale and what made it succeed;

* How does your group go about recruiting new members?

* How do you organize a successful book sale?

Each group had a brainstorming session, taking notes that will be compiled at the main branch. The results will be e-mailed to those groups who attended the meeting to help their Friends groups be more successful in the future.

Debbie Manion of the Big Lake Friends said although their group is just six members, they make a difference.

“Even though we’re small, we still sponsor a lot of programs,” she said. 

Their group raises between $2,500 and $3,000 a year with events like book sales, brat sales at Coborn’s and a Pizza Ranch event where they get a percentage of sales.

“We have something going almost all the time,” she said.

They meet at the library the first Monday of each month at 5:30 p.m.

“We’re always looking for new members,” she said.

The Clearwater Area Friends of the Library have their biggest fundraiser this weekend (Friday and Saturday). The group is selling brats and pork chops at McDonald’s Meats in Clear Lake.

They also have two to three book sales a year, serve breakfast at the Legion and have their own book store in the Clearwater Library.

There are about 10-12 active members who attend their meetings the second Wednesday of each month at the library.