We are excited to announce that the interior of the New North Shore Library is now being constructed at the One North Location.  Plans call for the move from our present location to the new one early in 2026.  Watch for details on the Library website and at the library itself.  The library will close temporarily in late December in preparation for moving.

Our final book sale in this location is scheduled for Thursday through Saturday, October 23, 24, and 25 of 2025.  Please bring in your book donations for the sale ASAP.  As usual, we do not accept magazines, textbooks or tapes.

After this book sale, we will NOT be taking any book donations until we are settled in the new library.
Our members and friends are very good customers.  The Spring 2025 Book Sale raised $6255 – our highest total ever!  Thank you!

Membership renewals will continue as always.  Please use the enclosed envelope for donations and renewals. Through your generosity, the Friends were able to give a check for $40,000.00 to the library at the May annual board meeting.

We have set up a Friends account with eBay, for selling more valuable books. It has already proved quite successful. Please see related article in this Newsletter.

We look forward to seeing all of you at the Book Sale, and at the New Library!

 

Thank you.

Evelyn Ericson, President
Friends of the North Shore Library

What is your definition of a hero?  Is it someone you admire?  Someone who can be commended for bravery?  Someone who has followed their dreams and had success?  Is it a friend or family member who has bounced back from a difficult time in their life?  I  have heroism on my mind as I will soon be accompanying my dad on an Honor Flight to Washington DC.

 

Here at the North Shore Library, we have many heroes!  Our patrons, our staff, our governing library board come to mind immediately.  Families, individuals, and organizations who have donated time and money to our capital campaign for the new library.  And among the most important heroes to us at the library are the Friends! 

Your dedication to our mission is incredible, and we couldn’t do much of what we do without you.  Thanks to the Friends, we now have a new self-check machine, access to many passes for museums and attractions in the area for patrons to use, and we had an extremely robust summer reading program this year.  The work you do on behalf of the Library every day allows the staff to provide additional programming, materials, and services to our patrons.  That daily support you provide exemplifies heroism in all of its iterations for us at the Library!  

Best regards,
Rhonda K. Gould - Library Director

 

 

Thank you to Bayside, Fox Point, Glendale and River Hills for the additional funding to build the new library.  This project could not have happened without their assistance.  Also, a big thank you to a couple of individuals for their tireless efforts to get this building project off the ground and into construction, Eido Walny, Bayside President, and Andy Pederson, Bayside Village Manager.  Thank you to all the donors who contributed.  And finally, a big, big thank you to Rhonda and her staff.  They are awesome!

The construction of the new library in Bayside has begun.  It is expected to be completed mid-December 2025.  The library will then close for a few weeks, so the collections and contents can be moved to the new location.  Soft opening of the library is scheduled for Monday, February 2, 2026.  A grand opening will then be scheduled for a date yet to be determined in March.
If you are interested in a tour of the construction site, please email Rhonda Gould at rhonda.gould@mcfls.org.

The library shell was conveyed to the North Shore Library in mid-July.  The generous donation of the shell is worth $4 million.  The library now owns the space.  Thank you to the developers for this generous   in-kind gift!

 

 

 We are still accepting monetary donations for the capital campaign.  Please make checks payable to either the “North Shore Library” or “Friends of the North Shore Library” for your gift to be utilized specifically for our library.  In the memo section, please write “Capital Campaign”.  The Friends organization is the only charitable partner recognized by the library.  The Friends of the North Shore Library organization has been a partner for the library.  We so appreciate this relationship.

Donations for the Capital Campaign can be mailed to:

Thank you to all for your patience with regard to the new library.  It has been a long time coming and we are so excited for our communities to have this wonderful new library to enjoy.

 

Respectfully Submitted,
Margaret Zitzer
President 
North Shore Library Board of Directors

 

 In addition to the book sales held at the North Shore Library in May and October, the Friends are now selling selected books on eBay as well https://www.ebay.com/usr/friendsoftheno-0
As donors have offered us books that are unique (e.g. of interest to collectors) or special (e.g. signed by the author, or a special edition), we will list them on eBay if we believe they have potential to sell there.  This creates an additional or amplified source of funding for your library’s programming and equipment needs, and fulfills our mission to maximize our help for the library.
Two things to note for our library friends:

We thank all of you who have been generous in donating books to us!

 

 

Dear Friends of the North Shore Library:

 

Please join us in renewing your membership to FRIENDS. Our funds raising and books sales enabled us to give $40,000 to the library in 2025.

 

FRIENDS provided funds for:
Youth and Adult Summer reading programs: $14,000
Explore Passes: including: Betty Brinn Museum, Mitchell Park Domes, Schlitz Audubon $4,800
Operational Funding: including: new self check machine, Kanopy: $19,000
Purchases of Adult and children’s books and media. $14,000
Virtual Author Talks: (12,347 views) $2500

Please renew your membership to the library FRIENDS by completing the enclosed envelope and returning it with your donation.

 

Misplaced your checkbook or forgot to order checks? Online donations are accepted by scanning the QR code or following the donation link https://www.northshorelibrary.org/fol-donation. The Friends of North Shore Library are a 501(c)(3) organization with a mission to provide invaluable volunteer and financial support to the North Shore Library. Their ongoing support helps the funding of many important library services and projects including programming, material purchases, and the current building project of a new North Shore Library. Donate today!!