Volunteers from the Library Center of the Ozarks (formerly Taneyhills Library) were honored for the part they have played in keeping the library open.
More than fifty volunteers representing the Library, Used Book Store and the former Thrift Store attended a luncheon, presented by the Friends of the Library at College of the Ozarks Keeter Center. The touching event included a delicious meal, a gift from the Friends of the Library, a time for fellowship, and praise from the Library Board, Operations Consultant and the Friends of the Library.
The Library Center of the Ozarks has recently become a publicly funded entity. Prior to January of this year, the private, nonprofit library relied largely upon volunteer staff to fill positions and to raise funds to keep the library doors open until public funding was made available. The Friends of the Library offered praise and admiration to the volunteers for their loyalty, dedication and hard work.
After listing all of the many roles that volunteers have filled as a part of the library, Friends of the Library's Kay Gerken led the room in giving the volunteers a "huge round of applause."
"Our role as volunteers is not done," noted Gerken. "Each of us needs to carry on the Legacy of Taneyhills by being an ambassador for the Library Center. As Andrew Carnegie said, 'The library outranks any other one thing that a community can do to benefit its people. It is a never-failing spring in the desert."
Joyce Coogan, President of the Friends of the Library, presented Library Operations Consultant Essy Day, who has relocated to the area with two special books—"The Shepherd of the Hills” and “Bringing Books to the Ozarks.” The latter tells of the work that volunteers did over the years to establish a library and keep it alive.
"I hope that someone, someday, will take on the project of writing the sequel to Bringing Books to the Ozarks," said Gerken. "It should depict the creation of the Children’s Library in 2016 provided by the generous donations from the Ball Foundation, the keys of the Taneyhills Library being given to the Library Center trustees in January 2024, and a final chapter about the Library Center of the Ozarks which will be built, hopefully in the latter part of the 2020s. It will have photos of the beautiful building in a convenient location for the community. And best of all, full of people of all generations who love and enjoy using the Library Center. I hope to see you all there at that ribbon cutting."