They say good friends are hard to find.

But for those associated through the years with La Conner Regional Library, that hasn’t been the case at all.

Quite the opposite, it turns out.

Ground was broken last week for a long-sought new building. That moment has benefited greatly from a sizeable volunteer group considered friends in both deed and name.

Since its inception in the late 1980s, the Friends of the Library has actively participated in a wide range of key fundraising activities while its members made significant donations in support of establishing a larger library with expanded services.

That long-range goal, in partnership with the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, is now on the near horizon.

The new La Conner-Swinomish Library will be at the intersection of Morris and Sixth, where the Friends managed the thrift store that generated funds for the new facility.

“I have always bragged about our Friends group,” former Library Director Joy Neal told the Weekly News. “Other library directors were amazed and jealous. They couldn’t believe how many members there were.”

Neal recalled that when she arrived in La Conner in 2005, the Friends were then envisioning development of a new library.

“They believed it would happen one day,” she said. “They saved up money and invested it, just sure they would be able to help the library get a new building. They contributed a lot in their donations, raffle sales, teas, time with fundraisers and the thrift store.”

The thrift store operated from 2012 until the summer of 2020 out of the old Pederson Automotive garage.

La Conner Kiwanis Club members remodeled the garage to function as a retail store, said past Friends President Diane Fritzler and husband Tom, the organization’s treasurer.

The Friends, said current President Joan Scarboro, contributed more than $40,000 toward the library’s purchase of the property, about 12 per cent of the total cost.

It proved beneficial for all parties.

“The library purchased the Pederson property and a board member – Brad York – suggested the Friends run a thrift store out of the building since it would be sitting empty,” Neal explained. “He was sure it would be able to make money and the library needed someone in (there) generating money to cover the mortgage.”

“The Friends were the tenant of the building,” said Neal, “and as such paid a monthly rent. The rent payment was set up to match the mortgage payment. So, yes, they were paying the mortgage in an indirect way.” That was $1,030 monthly.

In addition, the Friends periodically make large donations to the library, driving down the mortgage, Neal said.

“The amount depended on the profits from the thrift shop sales,” she said. “They often waited until they had $10,000 or more and were sure they didn’t need it for operating expenses.”

Scarboro confirmed that the Friends made annual donations to the library. Last year, when the COVID-19 pandemic hastened the store’s closure, she said the Friends gifted $40,000 to the La Conner Library Foundation.

The Friends retained several thousand dollars “to be able to continue our support of library projects,” said Scarboro.

Funds were initially raised from sales of used books out of a small space off the entry of the present library. Though tiny, the price was right. The Friends paid $1 a year to rent what came to be known as the Book Nook.

The popular Book Nook, launched in 1996, then relocated to the thrift store. It was intended as “an opportunity to make a bit of money off the many book donations as well as the discards from the library,” noted Scarboro

“It was a fundraising drive for the Friends and a way to sell books weeded out of and/or donated to the library,” Neal said. “They did a large book sale once a year, but the cost of storing the books meant they didn’t have much profit. And they wanted to raise money to help the library purchase things not in the budget.”

The Friends also supported La Conner Library Foundation-sponsored fundraising programs such as the Tiny Tree auctions and the Novel Affair luncheons and auctions at Maple Hall.

“They were pretty good fundraisers,” Neal said, “but the purpose was to keep the library project in front of people. They got people excited about our project and what the library could be if we had a new larger building.”

Monthly potluck meetings likewise became a staple of the organization until the pandemic struck.

Friends members have often been creative in generating additional funds for the library. One of them, retired teacher Brad Bradford, donated proceeds from the sale of a Model A. Others have made good-sized donations designed as matching grants.

“They were also generous in their individual gifts when we did our annual appeal, or Library Giving Day,” Neal said.

Neal and Scarboro laud the Friends as a civic organization uniting people supporting a worthy cause.

“The Friends of the Library has been a wonderful organization that has thrived through the years,” Scarboro said. “The community has certainly benefited from the energy and foresight of many wonderful people. It’s our hope that once the new library is completed the club can be revitalized with new ideas and younger energy.”

“These are patrons of the library,” said Neal, “who really loved the library and wanted to see it be the best it could be. I could ask them for anything – volunteer help, money, suggestions – and they always came through. I count them as personal friends. They are the best!”