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Meet Twila Clark and Kylene Martin – Volunteers with Friends of the Library
You can usually find Twila Clark and Kylene Martin working together at the Friends Café and Bookstore. The dynamic duo coordinates everything related to the book donations – sorting, organizing pop-up book sales, preparing for the Sweet Corn Book Sale in July and more.
Twila Clark started volunteering in 2009 in the Café for the evening shift. She loves meeting new people and helping them find books.
“I like the book part better than the snack part,” she said with a smile. “I know some of the books the regulars like to read, and if we have them, I direct them to their favorites. I just like talking with the people who come in and helping them find books. I encourage people to come in, spend time and see what’s happening in our library and bookstore.”
Kylene Martin has volunteered the past six years after she retired from teaching English and Literature and staying home with her grandchildren. She started shelving books and appreciates the opportunity to work with books and authors she has always loved. Her favorite section of the library and bookstore are the children’s sections.
“I spent many pleasant hours there with my five grandchildren every Tuesday morning for years and years and years with Miss Vickie and then Miss Joyce,” she recalled. “And when I was teaching junior high, I tried to keep up on the literature kids were interested in. I wanted to know about the characters they were talking about.”
Kylene has read the Harry Potter series by JK Rowling at least three times!
Both Kylene and Twila agree: Volunteering at the Friends Café and Bookstore is a fun way to make new friends. “It’s a good chance to meet new people as new customers come into store. We help them find books they are looking for, suggest new authors. It’s such a great chance to be helpful and to have fun doing it.”
Thanks for your volunteer service, Twila and Kylene! If you are interested in volunteering with Friends of the Chatham Library, please visit our website here.
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The Friends Bahlow Bookstore and Bank & Trust Café opened in April 2009 as part of the Librarys building expansion. The Friends of the Library wanted to provide a warm, welcoming space to sell the books that were discarded from the Library and donated from the community. It was created to be in service to the community and continues to keep prices low for that reason. The area is operated solely by unpaid volunteer staff with all funds going to cover expenses and then back to the library for support of special programs.
