How Can I Help?

Volunteer:

• Do you want to help your library?
• Do you have an hour or two to give us on a regular basis?
• Do you have a skill or a hobby you'd like to share?
• Do you love putting things in order?

We'd like to meet you.  We are a small library with big ambitions.  In order to achieve these big ambitions, we need to get help from active members of the community.  Among the possibilities available:

• Share your hobby or interest with others: Clubs such as knitting, gardening, yoga, job hunters, computers, etc. are always fun.  We'd love to host them but we need volunteers to lead them.  Meet weekly or monthly, if we can fit it into our schedule, it's up to you!
• Help Keep the Library Looking Great:  Shelving and  shelf-reading have to be done on a regular basis--and there's never enough hands available to do it!
• Computer Training:  Help seniors and others take their first steps on the information highway.  

Join the Friends:

Join a group of people determined to put the "Fun" back in Fundraising.  

Friends of the Library work to support the library staff and trustees by raising money for special programs and projects, doing outreach and volunteering.  Click here to learn more

Donate Money:

The library accepts donations from individuals and corporations.  

These donations enable us to go beyond the basics and provide needed programs, materials, technology and services to the public.

Some of our most exciting achievements came about because of the generosity of our community.  

• Our first public access computer network was donated by New Jersey Natural Gas as part of its Libraries Online program.
• Children's Department renovations and furnishings were funded by a bequest from former employee Avice Markley Noblett.  Interest from Ms. Noblett's bequest continues to fund ongoing children's programs.
• Donations of time, materials and money from various individuals, organizations and companies funded the Rain Garden and our ongoing landscaping projects.
• A donation from the Eisner family provides funds for restoration and upkeep of the Eisner house.
• The Red Bank Rotary Club donated the seed money to help put the Red Bank Register in digital format and make it available online.
• Fidelity Investment Company donated money to begin a computer training program.  This has been on hold for several years during the renovation but we hope to begin in the Fall.  (See laptop lab below)

Donate a Book:

We're always looking for gently used books, DVDs, audio books, etc to stock our book sale room.  Proceeds from our ongoing book sale go to defray the costs of new materials.

Donation Guidelines:

• Paperback and hardcover books in good condition both fiction and non-fiction for all ages.
• CDs & DVDs in good condition

We Cannot use:

• Magazines
• Readers Digest Condensed Books
• Textbooks
• Newspapers
• Dated Publications
• Travel guides more than two years old
• Technical books more than two years old
• Vinyl records or cassette tapes

Because the library staff does not have the time nor the expertise to appraise books, no receipts will be provided for book donations at this time.  Due to lack of storage space, we reserve the right to limit the quantity of items donated.

Current Projects:

The Library is currently working on several projects that will help provide new and improved services to the public.

	Laptop Lab:  Five (at least) notebook computers that would be used to provide a mobile computer training lab. The computers would be used for computer training, children's and adult programming.  The laptops would enable us to make better use of Fidelity Investment's previous generous donation.
	New Book & DVD Displays:  Bookstore style display gondolas for the New Book and DVD areas. New books and DVDs are the most popular items in the library and the place everyone goes to first.  We need more room to display and merchandise these popular items. We got off to a great start by auctioning off some of our unused furniture & fixtures on E-Bay--now every little bit helps.
	Wii!: The coolest game out there brings, Kids, and Adults of all ages together in a way that combines physical activity with high tech gaming and social interaction. Playing games in the library--Awesome!
	Building and Grounds:  The renovation remade large sections of the library but more remains to be done: Landscaping: Rain Garden & Beyond. Eisner House Entrance: Replace doors Eisner House Windows: Replace existing windows with energy-efficient aesthetically pleasing modern windows. West Side of the Building Paint & shore up window--and wouldn't a mural look great out there?