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In the summer of 2013, a group of community members started working, in conjunction with the Hamilton Branch staff, to form a "Friends" group specifically for the Hamilton Branch. That fall, four original incorporators of the Hamilton Friends group applied for a state charter as a non-profit corporation. Shortly thereafter, the group obtained its federal tax-exempt status as a 501(c)(3) charity, becoming the Hamilton Branch's affiliate of the Pratt Central Library's 40- year-old "Friends" organization. The Hamilton Branch "Friends" began operations with an initial Board Meeting in May of 2014; annual membership meetings are held in December of each year. Since its founding, the organization has purchased equipment and materials for programs and the facility (inside and outside), advocated for the Branch within the Pratt system, represented the Branch at neighborhood events, and helped organize several programs. We established a "new" tradition of holding annual Used Book Sale in July to serve the community and engage local residents and businesses in supporting the library. We seek to build a larger membership base and increase our capacity to assist the branch as its services evolve, and welcome all to join us.
Current Board Members: Lou Curran Aviva Klugh Deborah Mason Malissa Ruffner Derek Simmonsen, President The Friends of the Hamilton Branch Library"In a speech on the American Great Plains some years ago, I praised librarians as gate keepers to knowledge. A native American Indian chief came up to me afterward and quietly explained that, long before European settlers brought books to North America, the elder of a tribe would preserve the knowledge of his people in his head the way librarians would later do in their collections. 'But we didn't call him a gate keeper,' he gently explained, 'we called him the dream keeper' " 
The Friends of the Hamilton Branch Library is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
Your membership is tax-deductible! |
Photograph of Library Exterior: Enoch Pratt Free Library, Maryland’s State Library Resource Center.
Original Black-and-White Photograph of former Hamilton Branch building: Enoch Pratt Free Library, Maryland’s State Library Resource Center. Used with permission.
Newspaper Clippings:
Courtesy of the Maryland Room, Central Library. Enoch Pratt Free Library (Vertical Files).
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