New chairs and books have been added to the children's section of the Dimmick Memorial Library, thanks to a donation from its volunteer support group, the Friends of the Dimmick Memorial Library.

"This spring, we were able to give the library $1,000 towards children's chairs and books for the children's section, in addition to an earlier donation of $600 towards technical support to keep the library's computer's operating," said Friends president Janet Hermann. "The Friends of the Dimmick Memorial Library work to support the library in various ways, one of them is raising money to contribute to various needs of the library."The donation to the Dimmick Memorial Library was used to buy eight colorful plastic and metal child-sized chairs; as well as purchase new books for the children's collection."Each year, the Friends give us money to help build our collection," explained library director Susan Sterling. "This year, they asked what the library needed and I said we needed brand new children's chairs because the existing ones were ratty and could pinch little fingers; and children's books."In the children's section, our main audience is the preschool crowd," she added, noting that Dimmick hosts a story time for preschoolers on most Tuesday mornings. "That's where we focus most of our attention. We keep expanding there. We have audios, and books-on-tape for kids. We even have a separate G-rated section of movies."The help raise money for donations like this, the Friends of the Dimmick Memorial Library hold various fundraisers throughout the year, including book sales every Saturday from noon to 4 p.m. and on the first Thursday of the month from 3 to 7 p.m. at the Friend's House, located in the former annex of the library at 58 Broadway."We have a great selection, the volunteers work hard at keeping it well-run and organized," Hermann said. "These books have come through the library and either have been donated to the library and the library doesn't need them for their own collection, or they have been culled from their collection to make space for newer titles."The Friends group coalesced in 1982 after the Dimmick Memorial Library was damaged by fire. They helped rescue the collection, including many historic volumes and kept the library functioning in temporary space until the building was refurbished.Besides fundraising, the Friends support local writers through periodic author events in both the adult and child categories.To learn more about the Friends, ask a Dimmick librarian.