Irmo, SC 04/18/2023 - The Friends of the Irmo Branch Library has been named the Outstanding Friends Group for 2024 by the Friends of South Carolina Libraries. The group was presented the award March 23 at the statewide Friends of South Carolina Libraries Annual Conference. The statewide conference was held at the Richland Library Main in Columbia.
“We are thrilled and honored to receive this award from the statewide Friends of South Carolina Libraries,” said C Grant Jackson, president of the Friends of the Irmo Branch Library. “This honor belongs to all our members and is a testament to the hard work they put in daily to support the Irmo Branch Library.”
Kim Hill, branch manager of the Irmo Branch Library, has much praise for the Friends. In a letter supporting the nomination she wrote, “The biggest way the Friends support us is through their extensive fundraising efforts. While public funding drives basic library operations, private support enables us to provide the highest level of service to our community. Since 2009, the Friends of the Irmo Branch Library have raised $209,000 — funding that has been crucial in elevating the amount and quality of programs and services we can provide for the citizens of Irmo.”
A non-profit, volunteer organization with over 100 members, the Friends of the Irmo Branch Library supports, promotes and helps fund the Irmo Branch Library, a part of the Lexington County Public Library system. The Friends meet monthly August-October and January-May. Friends volunteers help with an array of library events and help out at the Friends’ twice-yearly used-book sales and Mystery Dinner Theater fundraisers.
The Irmo library is located at 6251 St. Andrews Road in Irmo, SC.
For more information about the Friends or to become a member, go to www.friendsoftheirmobranchlibrary.org or email the Friends at friends.irmobranchlibrary@gmail.com.
The Friends of South Carolina, FOSCL, a statewide organization, was created in the late 1980s to help foster, create, and support local Friends of the Library groups, and to provide networking opportunities for these groups to work together for the support of library services throughout the State of South Carolina.
