"Curiosity inspires the most exciting things in our lives, from conversation to reading books to seeing films. It drives all scientific research, and education."  
                                                   physicist and author Mario Livio
That quote inspires everything the FRIENDS do. We hope to inspire YOUR curiosity--with what's new at our library and what's coming up from the FRIENDS. 

SAVE THE DATE

Thursday
October 26

An Evening in Cuba
with

Historical Fiction Author
Robert Macomber 

We're looking for a few Good Men & Women
Can you give us a couple hours of your time? We need help with these easy tasks:

1-2 Hours/month: Distribute program flyers to downtown locations

2 Hour shift: Organize and/or man a "PopUP Booksale" table at the library

2-3 Hours: Help organize the resident's library for a retirement home

4-6 Hours/month (per project): Help create the atmosphere and experience at our fundraiser

Click below to leave an email with your interest. THANKS!
We're bragging a bit.

You helped us earn national recognition from our email provider,  Constant Contact. For the second year in a row, we received their ALL STAR AWARD for being in the TOP 10% of their users. The criteria: successfully engaging with our Friends throughout the year.

Mayor Randy Henderson hosted a book launch party on August 3 for the beautiful new commemorative photo story of the city, Fort Myers City of Palms - A Contemporary Portrait.  Featuring people and places all around town, it's a wonderful tribute to the diversity and excitement of our city. The book will be available for purchase for $50 at a variety of city locations.

Friends president Nancy Petralia purchased copies that we will raffle off at upcoming programs. 
Say HELLO to Tori Hersch
Next time you're at the library, look for Tori Hersch. She's the new Principle Librarian of our facility, replacing Anita Pintado who was promoted. Tori comes to us from Cape Coral Regional Library where she was Principle Librarian, Regional Manager for nearly all of her seven-year career with Lee County. 

When she's not working, Tori enjoys reading, photography, swimming and snorkeling. An avid reader of the romantic suspense genre Tori enjoys comedy and action adventure movies. 

Tori is very pleased to be in the Fort Myers branch and we're thrilled to have her here.
Oops! You Missed It
Last month attendees of the Wednesday movie got free popcorn and other treats.

Come out and join us for a free international film: Third Wednesday of the month at 6:30.
Summer Reading Program

Over 10,000 children and teens signed up for this county-wide program!!! Several hundred at our Fort Myers branch.

Through weekly activities and program challenges kids stay engaged in reading--and don't fall back over the summer. 

Our FRIENDS group has always provided funds for this important program as part of our annual support to the library.

Every participant can choose a NEW BOOK. For many kids this is the ONLY book they own. 

But the county only had 8500 books. So many kids were disappointed. 

The FRIENDS have decided to insure that this doesn't happen next summer. You'll hear more about our plans in coming months.
The FRIENDS will again sponsor ComicFest on the library's campus, Saturday, October 21.

We're excited that the county has decided to make this fun event the focus of their teen programming for the year. 

Last year's inaugural event drew more than 1200 kids, teens and adults--all dressed as their favorite characters from comics, movies, and books.

Dozens of youngsters visited the library for STEM activities and our library staff issued a multitude of new library cards.

We had a great time too!  
We'll close with this great poster about why
Libraries are so important.