Not Taking 'Normal' for Granted

      The Friends of the Cascade Library recently awarded $1,500 scholarships to three outstanding seniors in the Forest Hills public school district. The 2022 scholarships were awarded to Anika Deshpande (Forest Hills Eastern), Claire van Zelst (Forest Hills Northern) and Benjamin Zorn (Forest Hills Central).       

      The Friends of the Cascade Library Memorial Scholarship program was launched in 2008 as a tribute to Marilyn Meyer, a founding member of the group, in partnership with an anonymous donor who funded half of the scholarship.       

      Several years ago, the Friends began awarding two scholarships and, this year, the number increased to three, with two-thirds provided by the generous donor. In addition to academic achievement, the criteria for the awards focus on community service and a commitment to volunteering, especially within the library system.       

      Scholarship program administrator and Past President of the Friends Debbie Straub said that the community involvement of the winners and other applicants was particularly commendable considering barriers introduced by the pandemic.       

      “While many people were, understandably, avoiding interactions with groups of people, these young leaders were out volunteering their time and talents to help others,” she said. “It’s a form of generous courage that needs to be acknowledged and appreciated.” 

Anika Deshpande (Forest Hills Eastern)

      Anika is graduating from Forest Hills Eastern High School with a 4.357 GPA. She is planning to attend the University of Michigan and hopes to pursue a biopsychology, cognition, and neuroscience major.       

      Anika’s volunteer experiences were both broad and deep, spending time serving at Kid’s Food Basket, the Plainfield Library and Kumon Math and Reading Center before taking on a key partnership role in the PAL (Play Activity Leader) program at Frederick Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park.       

      One of her teachers described Anika as “a truly insightful, curious, and perceptive individual…who carries an air of steadiness of character and firmness of purpose.”       

      Anika indicated that she expects to make volunteer work a regular part of her life. “I am grateful for the Friends of the Cascade Library in supporting my future, and I look forward to continuing to serve the community through volunteering during my college career,” she said. 

Claire van Zelst (Forest Hills Northern)

      Claire is graduating from Forest Hills Northern High School with a 4.000 GPA. She plans on attending Calvin College in the fall, majoring in elementary or special education.         

      Claire volunteered with the Friends of the Cascade Library during the summer of 2020 and made a very positive impression on the veteran volunteers she worked with.      

       “Claire was a joy to have working with us,” recalled Laurel Ingram, Claire’s volunteer supervisor. “She was willing to take on new tasks and worked seamlessly alongside our seasoned volunteers.”       

      And, as it turned out, other Friends volunteers made a lasting impression on her, as she captured so eloquently in the essay she submitted as part of her scholarship application (see related article in this issue).      

      Some of Claire’s other activities included Editor-in-Chief for the school’s yearbook, membership in the National Honor Society, youth group leader for her church, and participation in the Girl Scouts, all while working part time.       

      Claire said she is "honored to have won the Friends scholarship which will help me pay for my tuition as I study Special Education and Youth Ministry at Calvin College.”  

Benjamin Zorn (Forest Hills Central)

      Benjamin is graduating from Forest Hills Central High School with a 4.169 GPA. He plans to attend Ferris State University and major in secondary education while playing on the school’s DiscGolf team.       

      The teen volunteer coordinator at the Cascade Branch Library said that “Benji has been an incredible volunteer…every librarian who has worked with him has commented on his enthusiasm, professionalism and how it is an absolute joy to have him as a volunteer.”       Benjamin has also given freely of his time in support of Family Promise, a local non-profit that supports families in transition; and he became a volunteer disc golf coach at Wheelchair Sports Camp to assist wheelchair-bound children play various sports.       

      In addition to his volunteer work, Benjamin has also been on the school’s swim team, served on student council, and played in the school’s marching and concert bands.       

      He said that he wanted to thank the library for providing volunteer opportunities and “give a special thanks to my mom for always motivating me to get out and be active in my community.”  

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      Editor’s Note: It’s almost impossible to overstate the contributions that Gail Rapp makes to the mission of the Friends of the Library as a volunteer and community ambassador. Here, in her own words, is an overview of why she got involved and the kinds of differences she’s making in the lives of the people she touches.        

      My name is Gail Rapp, and I have lived in the Cascade area for about 45 years.  I was married to Greg Rapp for 46 years before he died four years ago from brain cancer (glioblastoma).  I have three adult children and three grandchildren.          

      I previously volunteered for about five years with Safe Haven Ministries as a donations coordinator, doing moving and sorting. After my husband passed, I wanted to do something different and asked a volunteer at a book sale, Marge Ohlman, if the Friends needed volunteers.  It was my good fortune that they did.       

      I went through the training and just loved the people and the jobs associated with processing the volume of books donated.  I was impressed with the organization of the basement, the handling of the books, and the general good nature of all the people who volunteered. It’s like another whole library downstairs, and the volume and variety of books we receive is just astounding!       

Supporting Online Sales

      Shortly after I started, our leaders decided to put together a team to sell the more valuable books on eBay. The Cascade community has always been very generous with its donations, and we have received books worth several hundred or even thousands of dollars.  But, we needed to reach a broader audience to sell the more valuable books.        

      I volunteered to join the new online team. Nancy Harper, who leads the online team, said she would be happy if we made $60 per month online.  Organizing it was challenging, but we finally got a team together to research and photograph the books, list them online, and ship them when they sold.  We sold about $600 the first month, and now, after about five years, we sell between $2,500 and $4,000 each month!       

      I spend most of my time at the library researching the books for online sales.  It is fascinating and, sometimes, surprising. Some books you think are worth nothing turn out to be worth quite a bit (think old occult books and oddball paperback books), and books you think would be quite pricey (think pretty much any art or coffee table book), turn out to not have much value.          

      We also sell CDs and DVDs online.  So many interesting and unusual books come through our department, from old medical books to first edition children's books to astrology books, autographed books, and textbooks.  Occasionally we receive large donations of books from estates or when someone’s downsizing their home.  We take very seriously our responsibility to move their treasures on to someone else who will give them a good home. It is just a book lover's dream job!

      If you would like to visit our online store to shop, the web address is: www.ebay.com/str/cascadelibraryfriends.

Keeping 'Little Free Libraries' Stocked

      When I’m not doing my online duties, I like to do a whole lot of “Book Bombing” of Little Free Library (LFL) boxes throughout the Forest Hills and Grand Rapids areas. Every four to six weeks, I take the books that are still very readable, but do not meet the standards for our bookstore or book sales and travel around the Forest Hills and Grand Rapids areas to restock LFL boxes I find.         

      I don't have a specific route, but I have general areas I try to hit.  It helps if I can get my daughter or daughter-in-law to be the navigator and tell me which way to turn! I try to provide a selection of books: children’s, cookbooks, action books, science fiction, and romances, each in their own box in my car trunk.  I can usually empty four or five boxes of books each two-to-three-hour tour!!  I enjoy this so much and, while it is usually the children's and science fiction books that go first, usually everything seems to find a new home.       

Connecting with Elementary School Teachers

      Through the Forest Hills Neighborhood Facebook page, I have also connected with a teacher in the Forest Hills School district who wanted specific children's books for her special needs classroom.  I started sharing some of our excess children’s books with her and she passed them out…and kept passing them out. Now, two years later, the books go to almost every elementary school in the Forest Hills area and beyond!  She says the children are so excited that they can take any book they want to keep for free.  She also helps teachers stock up their classroom libraries because the children just "love the books to pieces."  The books help teachers give the students opportunities to read books they like without having to buy new books over and over.        

      I have always, even as a young child, found books exciting because the possibilities were never-ending. Doing this work with the Friends of the Cascade Library has been very rewarding and very fulfilling.  I am seeing a vast array of interesting books, working with people who love books, and passing books on to others who love books.  I can't think of any better way to spend my time! 

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      When it came to bringing groups of people together for just about any reason the last two years, not much avoided the disruptive power of the pandemic. And, that included the popular book discussions sponsored by the Friends.       

      But, the passage of time and the introduction of a vaccine made it possible for the discussions to resume in 2022 and for discussion attendees to gradually return to the library to share their thoughts with others on a wonderful slate of books.       

      The final session of the season is scheduled for 10 am May 16 in the Wisner Center at the Cascade branch library and will feature a novel by New York Times bestselling author Kristin Hannah called “The Four Winds.”        

      Hannah is a prolific writer of 21 novels, including “The Nightingale,” which was a New York Times bestseller, and other notable titles, including “The Great Alone,” “Winter Garden,” and “Magic Hour.”       

      The publisher describes “The Four Winds” as “an epic novel of love and heroism and hope, set in 1934 Texas against the backdrop of one of America's most defining eras: The Great Depression. Millions are out of work and a drought has broken the Great Plains. Farmers are fighting to keep their land and their livelihoods as the crops are failing, the water is drying up, and dust threatens to bury them all.        

      “One of the darkest periods of the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl era, has arrived with a vengeance. In this uncertain and dangerous time, Elsa Martinelli--like so many of her neighbors--must make an agonizing choice: Fight for the land she loves or go west, to California, in search of a better life. ‘The Four Winds’ is an indelible portrait of America and the American Dream, as seen through the eyes of one indomitable woman whose courage and sacrifice will come to define a generation."       

      No pre-registration is needed. Mark your calendar and join other book lovers for a stimulating discussion on May 16. 

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      Editor’s Note: In our previous newsletter, we introduced three individuals who had joined the Friends’ board fairly recently. We would like to introduce you to two more in this issue: Kathy Sullivan (Sales Events Chair) and Amy Hoyt (Marketing & Communications Chair).        

      Kathy stepped into the sales void created more than a year ago when our previous sales chair, Kathy Wosinski, was forced to resign due to health reasons. She has done a wonderful job of maintaining continuity in the position and adding some special touches of her own.       

      Amy joined the board a few months ago and has already had a tremendous impact on our communications with members and other groups within the community, as was evident in the number of attendees at our March book sale.  

Kathy Sullivan (Sales Events Chair)        

      Kathy grew up in Dayton, OH and earned a Bachelor of Science in Education from Ohio State University and a master’s in library science from Kent State University. During her career, she worked in public high school and junior high school libraries. So, it’s easy to see how she gravitated to the Cascade library and the Friends.       

      When her husband, Tom’s, job necessitated a relocation in 1994, they and their three children—Allison, Kelly and Tim—relocated to Grand Rapids. “Unfortunately, when they graduated from college, they didn’t return to Grand Rapids,” Kathy said. “So, we spend a lot of time in Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin, where our six grandkids live.”       

      Kathy said she first got involved assisting at the book sales for a number of years before deciding she wanted to get more involved with the Friends. “That’s when I began working in the basement, sorting and packing books for sale,” she said. “Little did I realize it would lead to me becoming book sales chair.”       

      In addition to helping the library in its mission, Kathy said that working with other Friends volunteers is sheer pleasure. “There are so many wonderful volunteers, “she said. “It is always a fun day in the basement. And, meeting and talking to our book sale shoppers is so interesting because it seems they all have a story to tell.”  

Amy Hoyt (Marketing & Communications Chair)        

      Amy was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley north of Los Angeles, CA.  She has a son living in Grand Rapids and one in Bakersfield, CA.   Both have two children, which makes her a very proud Gramma of four grandkids.         

      In her mid-forties, she left southern California for the Pacific Northwest, buying the piece of property in Spokane, WA where her father was born.  There, she earned a bachelor of arts in Interpersonal Communication at Whitworth University and later a master’s in Pastoral Ministry from Gonzaga University.       She was ordained as an Interfaith Minister by The Chaplaincy Institute in Berkeley, CA.  Clinical training and work as a hospital chaplain took her to Richland, WA.  She ended her career in Moscow, ID as a rural hospice chaplain, responsible for 3,000 square miles of territory.        

      In 2014 she took an early retirement from the hospice work and followed her son and his family to Grand Rapids. Her lifetime love of books and her commitment to improving the community she is part of led her to volunteering with the Friends.       

      “I started volunteering with the Friends of the Library shortly after installing my Little Free Library at my home in Ada,” Amy said. “Volunteering with the Friends fulfills so many things for me!  In childhood I developed a love for books, libraries and bookstores that has become a lifelong passion.  Just being around shelves of books lifts my spirits, inspires me and makes me happy. Spending time in the library basement with other volunteers provides times of uplifting socialization with great folks of like mind.” 

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