Friends of TADL

The Friends are an enthusiastic group of men and women who support the mission of the Traverse Area District Library (TADL) and contribute their funds and/or time and creativity to further TADL’s mission to enrich our community. A friend is someone like you!

If you have any questions, the Friends of Traverse Area District library can be contacted via email at: friends@tadl.org

The Friends of Traverse Area District Library (TADL) is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization founded in 1982 and dedicated to encouraging awareness, appreciation, use, and support of TADL facilities and its role in the cultural and educational development of the district. We invite you to join this dynamic group of individuals who share a love of literacy and libraries.

LEVELS OF MEMBERSHIP

• $15-Single
• $25-Couple/Family (one address)

To register to be a Friend, just click here! 

Membership benefits include:

• Free admission to the TADL Friends Preview Sales. Get a head start on some great books and bargains with early access for Friends Members!
• An invitation to attend the Friends Annual Spring Meeting.
• The pleasure and pride in knowing that you are helping support the library!

• Jud Barclay – President
• Kathy Kelto – Vice President
• Bryce Hundley – Treasurer
• Reba Leiding – Financial Secretary
• Marika BeVier – Recording Secretary
• Meagan Belden – Member-at-Large
• Megan Holtrey – Member-at-Large
• Donna Hornberger – Member-at-Large
• Sue Hull – Member-at-Large
• Kerri Moses – Member-at-Large
• Amy Shamroe – Member-at-Large
• Rick Siders – Member-at-Large
• Pam Ward – Member-at-Large

The Friends of Traverse Area District Library receives $25,000 from the Michigan Nonprofit
Relief Fund 
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. – The Friends of Traverse Area District Library has been awarded $25,000 from the Michigan Nonprofit Relief Fund, established by the Michigan Nonprofit Association (MNA) and the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO). 

“This is great news,” said Jud Barclay, 2023 President of the Friends. “Book sales are the Friends’ primary source of revenue, and due to the pandemic we were unable to hold sales for over two years. The grant allows us to get back in the business of supporting Traverse Area District Library programs.”

The $35 million Michigan Nonprofit Relief Fund was created from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds awarded to the State of Michigan to support Michigan-based 501(c)(3) nonprofits with annual revenues of less than $1 million, who have demonstrated necessary expenditures and losses incurred after March 3, 2021, due to the pandemic. The fund was designed with special attention to underserved and underrepresented populations including nonprofits in rural areas and those led by and serving, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities who have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic.

To learn more about the Friends of TADL, we encourage you to attend one of our monthly meetings of the Friends of TADL Board of Directors. Meetings are normally held on the first Tuesday of the month at noon in the Thirlby Room at the Main Library (2nd floor). 

You can find our by-laws and past meeting minutes at the links below. Archived minutes from previous years are available for review at the Main Library, 2nd Floor Administration office.

• The Friends host several book sales throughout the year which take place in the McGuire Community Room at the Main Library featuring a spring sale in May and a fall sale in September. The sales include thousands of used books including some rare editions, classics, recent fiction and non-fiction in hardcover and softcover, children’s books, cookbooks, computer books, CDs, and DVDs.
• The Friends offer heavy refreshments, entertainment and a summary of the year’s activities at the Annual Friends of TADL Meeting each May. The public is encouraged to attend, get acquainted, and enjoy an evening with Friends.
• The Friends of TADL belongs to the American Library Association, is a member of the Friends of Michigan Libraries, and contribute to TADL programming.

• The Friends financially support the following programs and library services:
  • Gifts to support capital improvements in the Youth Services Department’s Tween Scene (2016), Read-to-Me corner (2017), and the Preschool Interactive Learning Area – PILA (2018).
  • The software license which brings www.ancestry.com to patrons and staff interested in genealogy.
  • Funding support to transport TCAPS classes to the TADL Main Library (see photo!).
  • The software which distributes the TADL electronic newsletter each month to more than 30,000 TADL cardholders.
  • The popular Poets’ Night Out, taking place in April during National Poetry Month and have done so since 1997.
  • The purchase of books to add to the TADL borrowing collection for the annual TC READS selection and for the NWS authors.
  • The purchase of two of the express check out stations available at the Main Library.
  • Summer Reading Club programming and activities for youth, teen, and adults.
  • Contribution to Grow the Gardens, a library landscaping project designed by local, award winning landscape architect Dean Conners.
  • The Friends support the Born to Read program for new parents with the TC Twilight Rotary and Munson Medical Center in collaboration with TADL youth services.

The Friends can now accept your donations directly online! To do so, just click here! All amounts are welcome. A donation of $500 or more will be recognized on the donor wall in the lobby of the Main Library (Traverse City).