Our Impact
Summer Reading. Author events. New technology. Better spaces. Outreach beyond the library walls. Since 2010, Friends support has helped the Orange County Public Library do more for its community. Here’s where that support has gone.
Browse by year or filter by funding area to see what Friends support has made possible.
Funded the library’s full 2026 request across both branches: the River Park kickoff, program t-shirts, and children’s, teen and adult programming for the Unearth New Adventures season, from performers and weekly prizes to raffle baskets and wrap-up celebrations.
Purchased the Southern Branch’s Kingsley book drop, in blue with a rolling collection cart, delivered to the Drakeford Library Complex in June 2026.
Hosted appreciation luncheons at both the Main and Southern branches, the first year the Friends thanked staff at two locations.
Put a water dispenser upstairs for library staff and members, on a three-year lease.
Kept the story trail at Efland-Cheeks Park fresh and readable for another year of family walks.
Backed the 2025 season, A Rainbow of Possibilities, with performers, prizes and programs across both branches.
Treated library staff to the yearly appreciation lunch.
Helped bring authors to the library for talks and community literary events.
Repaired the story trail at Efland-Cheeks Park after summer vandalism, getting it back in service for families.
Stocked the library with tissues and hand wipes, in the brands staff asked for.
Bought books for the Prison Books Collective’s giving-tree drive at the library.
Built the story trail at Efland-Cheeks Park with Parks and Recreation, turning a walk in the park into a picture book families read page by page.
Funded the children’s side of the 2024 Summer Reading season.
Purchased seating and furnishings chosen to make the youth area work better for neurodivergent children.
Paid the library’s share of Art of the Book, an exhibit inspired by the novel Big Fish, covering installation and the opening reception, plus a purchase award that let the library keep a piece from the show on its walls.
Provided food and gifts for the yearly staff appreciation event.
Funded the teen side of the 2024 season, approved together with the youth request.
Helped bring authors to the library for talks and readings.
Supported the NC Public Library Directors’ Association, keeping the profession’s advocacy voice in Raleigh.
Bought paperbacks through Purple Crow Books for the Prison Books Collective, alongside the library’s holiday giving tree.
Carried the 2023 season, We All Bee-Long at the Library, through both months of summer programming.
Trained a staff member promoted from within to run circulation, turning an internal promotion into a lasting skill set.
Covered the library’s share of the Library Speakers Consortium, keeping virtual author visits free for patrons.
Hosted the yearly appreciation event, with Weaver Street gift cards for the library’s full-time staff.
Replaced the library’s five lending Kindles so e-readers could keep circulating.
Bought paperbacks for the Prison Books Collective’s drive at the library, run alongside the holiday giving tree.
Helped the library reintroduce itself after the pandemic: outreach events, radio spots on WNCU-FM, staff shirts and tote bags for the community.
Backed Oceans of Possibilities for readers recovering from pandemic learning loss: weekly prizes, raffle prizes, Scholastic book giveaways and the opening magic show.
Sent library staff to the NC Library Association meeting and other professional training through the pandemic year, so they could learn from other libraries running virtual services.
Kept Summer Learning going through the curbside season, with kickoff books and prizes for Tails and Tales.
Moved Summer Reading online when the building closed: weekly video challenges, printed game boards, Book Bingo and prizes for the Grow With Us! season.
Threw an open house for ten years of the Main Library on Margaret Lane, with refreshments and giveaways, weeks before the pandemic closed the building.
Paid for the wall and office that created the library’s community engagement space; by May the library reported it up and running.
Funded A Universe of Stories a season ahead: approved and paid in December 2018 so the library could plan 2019’s summer early.
Supported the library’s project under its LSTA grant from the State Library of North Carolina.
Sent library staff to equity and inclusion training.
Equipped the meeting room with a new projector and tables to match.
Backed the Libraries Rock! season with performers, prizes and programs for readers of all ages.
Added wayfinding signs and a website refresh, so people could find both the library and their way around it.
Paid for the summer concerts, town permits and party supplies for Friends events, refreshments, and the year’s Janet Flowers volunteer award.
The remainder of a year that survives only as annual totals: library support and program spending beyond the summer grants and Books on Break listed separately.
Funded the kickoff event and the programs that ran through the summer.
Printed t-shirts for staff and volunteers working the summer program, with the Friends’ logo on every shirt.
A second year of Books on Break, keeping books with New Hope Elementary students over the summer.
Piloted Books on Break at New Hope Elementary, keeping books in students’ hands all summer.
Matched a Literacy Outreach grant through the Partnership for Young Children, putting early-literacy work within reach.
Matched two Library Services and Technology Act grants from the State Library, one for planning and one for assistive technology.
Sent four staff to national training: the Public Library Association conference in Denver and a workshop in Washington, D.C.
Covered kickoff activities, alongside a gift from the Triangle Community Foundation and library operating funds.
Answered the library’s capital request for the year; the minutes approve the amount without itemizing what it bought.
Covered Friends and library program costs through the year, the season the board launched the Janet Flowers Award for volunteer service.
Set up a snow cone station at the kickoff, put three Kindle Fires up as grand prizes, and stocked weekly prizes for elementary-age readers.
Added user-friendly browsing for new books at the top of the steps, with smaller display shelves and lowered units for a more open, inviting feel. The full project cost $23,000; the Friends contributed $8,000.
Two further grants paid in September and December; the era’s ledger records totals only, so what they bought is not itemized.
Helped throw the library’s first big Summer Reading kickoff, the June celebration remembered in sidewalk chalk: “Thanks to the Friends of the Library.”
Bought and installed the building’s third RFID self-checkout station, the first upstairs near the public computers, and replaced the library’s worn-out disc cleaner to keep CDs and DVDs circulating. A placard on the unit credits the gift.
Sent staff to professional conferences, including the North Carolina Library Association’s biennial convention.
Stocked summer reading prizes and stickers, topped by two Kindle Fires for the adult and teen winners.
Passed an Eaton Corporation gift straight to Youth Services, which chose educational beanbag toys and three animal puppets.
Sent two library staff members to a professional conference.
Supplied topsoil, pavers and mondo grass for the Hillsborough Garden Club’s planting at the library entrance.
Sent three library staff members to a professional conference.
Presented at the December annual meeting for needs the county budget did not cover: end panels that made the new shelving secure, an LCD projector, table arm chairs, and the library’s first five Kindles with a starter e-book collection.
Presented on the Margaret Lane building’s opening day, January 8, 2010. Furnished the Teen Room, bought the security gates at the entrance, and equipped Youth Services.
Helped commission Wayne Trapp’s Embrace the Moment at the entrance, the first public art in northern Orange County, dedicated at the library’s centennial celebration in August 2010.
Every project on this page started with a library need and community support. Join the Friends or make a gift to help make the next one possible.
