by Barbara Chase, York Public Library Trustee
These days, we are all searching for ways to support our York community, its people and the organizations that serve them.
As midsummer arrives this June, you will have a great chance to do just that and to have lots of fun at the same time. From June 17 to 25, the York Public Library Association will hold our first ever auction to benefit the Library. The auction will be online for everyone’s convenience and safety. You will have a chance to bid on:
- A first edition of “To Kill a Mockingbird,” authenticated by Ken Gloss of Brattle Bookshop
- A voyage on the York River with a marine biologist
- Many beautiful pieces donated by local artists and craftspeople
- A guided tour of an iconic oceanside garden
- A myriad of services, gourmet items, and dining and accommodations offered by some of our favorite York businesses
- A poetry reading with an ocean view
- Of course, great books, many signed by their author
- and much more.
You can do all this and help your favorite library at the same time. How? By participating in the York Public Library Association’s Auction.
“What is the York Public Library Association?” you may ask. It’s the organization that contributes 35-40% of the YPL budget annually. Fundraising is a big part of that, and this year’s auction is a new, and we hope fun and exciting, way to achieve our goals.
The auction will benefit programming at the Library. Over the last 18 months, our world and our town have lived through turbulent times. York Public Library has not only persevered, but blossomed with adaptive programming. For example: During COVID-19, among other new online programs, we acquired HOOPLA, a program through which patrons can stream movies, TV shows, audiobooks, and music. We offered curbside service when it was not possible to have patrons in the building, made available grab-and-go books from the Book Nook and take home craft activity packets for kids. To join the town-wide discussion on racial justice, the Library offered a series of lectures to help inform the conversation.
This kind of innovation is nothing new for YPL. Every year, tried and true programming is repeated and new initiatives emerge, fueled by the unlimited imagination of our staff and limited only by staff time and funding. Popular programs like meditation, after-school young people’s activities, ukulele lessons for all ages, and art exhibits and lectures continue to draw appreciative audiences.
So, get excited about the YPLA Auction. Get online and bid. Then get ready to enjoy your beautiful find or exciting experience, and, at the same time, help to build and sustain YPL programs.
Information about the auction, including a link to preview items up for bidding, is available at yokrpubliclibrary.org/auction.
Barbara Chase is a York Public Library Trustee and co-chair with Nancy Garrick of the York Public Library Association Auction. This article was originally published in The York Weekly.
