Since its beginnings 19 years ago, the Loudoun Library Foundation (LLF) has given grants and money to public and private libraries all over Loudoun County. Programs such as the Sterling Library Family Literacy Program would have to realign and reassess the means in which it would get money to run its programs if the LLF does not find new space soon.
The LLF will lose its space on Miller Road in Leesburg in late August. The company that donated the space for nearly three years has new plans for the building.
The LLF is an independent nonprofit organization that provides support by collecting books and selling them back into the community at its annual sale to raise money for county and private libraries, said Mark Humphrey, president of the LLF.
The sale provides an inexpensive option to buy books for the public while all the proceeds benefit the LLF's grant program. The organization will hold its last book drop June 10 for those who want to donate to this year's sale, said Beth Leetch, vice president of LLF.
OVER THE years, the organization has moved from place to place, including a private home on Route 15. Currently, Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) is donating space to the foundation until August; however, the foundation cannot accept donations past its book sale at the end of June without a place to store the books, said Leetch.
Without space, the book sale will cease to exist, said Humphrey.
"We can't have a book sale without space because we collect all year long," said Mary Fishback, volunteer. "It's not something where everyone just comes in during April and May. It takes all year long to collect and sort."
Members of the LLF have made an effort to attain new space by reaching out to the community, but have not been successful.
"We've been talking to newspapers, politicians, libraries and administration," said Leetch.
"It's an ongoing effort and we've been talking to a lot of different people and the county," said Humphrey.
To continue collecting books, the LLF needs space that is about 3,000 to 5,000 square feet, easy access and air-conditioned. The organization is willing to pay utilities, said Leetch.
"We need the word out there and we need a large space," said Fishback. "We need a Good Samaritan to come out and donate space."
Throughout the years, the foundation has raised an average of $50,000 and puts $35,000 back into the libraries for grants, said Humphrey. The foundation relies heavily on the support of its volunteers.
"So many organizations have problems with getting volunteers," said Humphrey. "We have such a strong volunteer base that I would be ashamed to see the sale terminated because we don't have the space to process books prior to the sale."
THE MONEY for grants comes from the book sale held once a year at the end of June. This year, the sale will be one of the most successful ever for the foundation because of the amount of books that have been donated, especially by some out-of-business bookstores. One bookstore donated about 35,000 books, said Leetch.
The sale will include more than 150,000 books, cassettes, LPs, compact discs, videos, DVDs, audio books and software. "After the sale, if you're an organization or nonprofit, the group allows you to come in one hour after the sale and allows you to take what books you want for your organization," said Fishback. "So churches benefit, homeschoolers benefit and a lot of the jails come in and get books. We really recycle all year long."
Each year, many volunteers gather to help the organization.
"It's like a big family," said Fishback. "We've been doing it for so long. It's very much a people-oriented thing and we don't see each other but once a year and we congregate and have a good time."
Apart from running the book sale every year, the LLF also donates textbooks and encyclopedias to Liberia and has donated to some American Indian reservations in the past. The rare books that the foundation acquires are auctioned off to raise more money for county libraries. The LLF also sponsors regular summer reading programs and teen summer reading programs.