Bingo Night to raise money for Dickinson Memorial Library furniture
Published: 08-13-2024 10:35 AM |
NORTHFIELD — Fans of bingo, books or beer can find entertainment that’s up their alley at a fundraiser, held at The Brewery at Four Star Farms, to buy new furniture for the Children’s Room at Dickinson Memorial Library.
The fundraiser will be held Friday, Aug. 16, from 6 to 8 p.m., with a rain date of Friday, Aug. 23.
The library is in desperate need of new furniture, according to Library Director Misha Storm. It has been more than 25 years since the last renovations, and most of the furniture is even older, dating back to the 1970s.
Aging Children’s Room furniture is ready to be replaced. Bookshelves are being held together by duct tape and the bean bag chairs have gone flat, in addition to their vinyl covering flaking off. Additionally, more storage and play space is needed.
“The shelving is the big thing,” Lara Dubin, president of the Friends of the Dickinson Memorial Library, said in a phone interview. Dubin explained that in addition to just falling apart, the shelves do not meet the library’s needs. The shelves are short and cannot hold taller books, preventing staff from shelving books in the correct alphabetical order.
The library hopes to get taller shelves with wheels that will allow the shelves to be moved aside for events.
“As program attendance grows at the library, we are looking for ways to make the large Children’s Room more flexible by putting some of the shelving on wheels,” Storm said in a statement. “This will allow us to have events in the space, harkening back to the second floor’s original use.”
Storm said that while the shelves and furniture from the 1970s needs replacing, she hopes some of the other shelves, handcrafted by woodworkers in the early 1900s, can be refurbished and reused.
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Shelves are the priority, but the Friends of the Dickinson Memorial Library hope to raise enough money to purchase new chairs, tables, and other decor and furniture.
“You can’t have a Children’s Room without bean bag chairs,” Dubin added.
The library does not yet have an estimate for how much the furniture will cost.
“Our library is really resourceful,” Storm said in a phone interview. “It will all depend on what we raise.”
When the Friends began brainstorming ideas for a fundraiser, a Bingo Night rose to the top of possibilities.
“While we hold several small fundraisers throughout the year, we saw this as an opportunity to try something new,” Dubin said in a statement. “The idea of a Bingo Night was everyone’s favorite. Four Star Brewery in Northfield hosts the library’s monthly Trivia Night and they were quite willing to also host our Bingo Night.”
Bingo callers for Friday’s fundraiser, Pam Eldridge and Tom King, will begin the games at 6:15 p.m. However, attendees can begin collecting their bingo cards and daubers (specialty markers made for marking bingo cards) at 5:30 p.m.
The bingo prizes are baskets put together by the Friends of Dickinson Memorial Library with themes inspired by some of the regular library programs such as a Puzzle Basket, a Knitting Basket, an Arts & Crafts Basket and a Reading Basket.
The Brewery at Four Star Farms will be donating a portion of proceeds from beer sales for the night to the library, and the Friends will hold a bake sale. Guests can also purchase food from the Port No. 3 food truck or bring snacks from home.
Reach Madison Schofield at 413-930-4579 or mschofield@recorder.com.