Friends and Foundation
A Visit with Dorothy Hughes, Friends Board Vice President
How long have you been a member of Friends of Johnson County Library?
Four years now. Not long enough!
What’s your elevator speech to convince someone to join the Friends?
The shortest answer is: there is no reason not to join. The Friends of Johnson County Library is an organization that supports library programming, literacy and all the great things Johnson County Library does for our community. Not only that, but they sell coffee, too, which I love! If that’s not enough, I get to work with other talented people who are passionate about libraries and their role in modern American life.
Do you have a favorite Friends memory?
My favorite Friends memory is volunteering at the summer book sale a few years ago and getting stationed at the counting table with now-fellow Board member Lindsay Lau. That was the first time we met, and we had a blast. It’s been so much fun getting to know her and the rest of the Board over the years.
What are you reading (or listening to) right now?
I’m currently reading When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi. It’s beautifully done but quite heavy subject matter, so I lightened things up by recently listening to I Can’t Make This Up by comedian Kevin Hart. It gets an R-rating for language, but it is
absolutely hilarious. I highly recommend them both, but for very different reasons, of course.
Dorothy Hughes has served on the Friends of Johnson County Library Board since 2014. She is currently a full-time Ph.D.
student in Health Policy and Management at the University of Kansas School of Medicine. Dorothy also works part-time as
a healthcare consultant and is an adjunct faculty member in the Helzberg School of Business at Rockhurst University. In her
spare time, she enjoys reading, binge-watching Food Network shows, and hanging out with friends, family and her Great
Pyrenees, Maggie.
The Weird and Wacky World of Online Sales
You know and love the great deals you find at the Friends of the Johnson County Library book sales, but did you know you can shop with them 24/7, online?
The Friends of Johnson County Library launched their successful summer used book sale about 30 years ago, and have since opened used bookstores at three Johnson County Library branches. The Friends started an internet sales presence in 2004 and sold 116 items that year, earning $3,888. Times have certainly changed. The Friends reported internet sales of 7,841 items grossing nearly $132,000 in 2016. Items sold have ranged from the prosaic: an out-of-print insurance book that is still in demand, to the profound: the collected works of Sigmund Freud. A recent top seller was The Lighting Handbook: Reference and Application which sold for $399.95. Books have been shipped to six continents, and orders arrive daily.
The Online Sales Division is managed by Friends Business Manager Matt Delaney and a corps of dedicated volunteers. We presently have 11 volunteers listing items for sale and 5 volunteers shipping items ordered. Materials deemed appropriate for online sale are manually listed on the three online auction sites where the Friends list: ABEBooks, Amazon and eBay. The sites are monitored daily by the Online Sales volunteers, who also fulfill completed auctions.
Shipments have made their way to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, China, Malaysia, Great Britain, Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Switzerland, Belarus, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Macau and South Africa!
Funds raised by the Friends support a range of programs and services including the 6 by 6: Ready to Read early literacy program, the Meet the Author series and the annual teen literary magazine, elementia.
Support the Friends by browsing our online shops anytime »
-by Matt Delaney, Business Manager, Friends of Johnson County Library
New Friends Board on Board
The newly-seated board of directors of the Friends of Johnson County Library lost no time in getting oriented and getting down to work.
Members spent the morning of January 6 together catching up on Friends history and reviewing accomplishments from the past few years. The first full board meeting of the year, on the following Tuesday, January 9, heard lively discussions about committee assignments and strategic direction for the Friends in 2018 and beyond.
The Board also toured the MakerSpace at Central Library. The Friends Bookstore at Central now sells a few supplies useful in the MakerSpace. Business is, so far, good!
The Board has plans to travel its monthly meetings around the system to get to know Libraries and programs better. They'll visit the Friends Sorting Center in February and the Antioch bookstore in April. The executive committee, under the able direction of President Julie Steiner, plans to work with the Library and Foundation to flesh out strategic planning during the course of this year.
If you're interested in joining the Friends, we'd love to have you! Become a Friend today »
Welcome Stephanie Stollsteimer!
We warmly welcome Stephanie Stollsteimer as our new Executive Director for the Johnson County Library Foundation. Stephanie joined the team on Monday, January 8, 2018.
Stollsteimer has a Master of Business Administration degree and her Bachelor’s degree in Journalism. She has worked for a range of not-for-profits and has a passion for libraries and public service. She previously aided United Soccer Coaches as Marketing and Membership coordinator. She has also worked with the Kansas City Ballet, the Women’s Foundation of Greater Kansas City, and as Executive Director of the SkillBuilders Fund.
We’re grateful for the professionalism and experience that Ms. Stollsteimer brings to the Foundation mission of helping the Library build its collection and resources, offer programs for patrons of all ages, and better serve the needs of our community.