The mission of the Friends of the Library (FOL) is to promote literacy and the love of reading in our community, and to support the Chadwick Leavenworth Library and our librarians.
The FOL sponsors a range of exciting events and activities on campus, including a week-long book fair in the fall and a smaller book fair in the spring, community service book drives and the Parent Assistant to the Librarians (PALS) program. Additionally, we invite award-winning visiting authors to campus to engage with our K-12 students on campus or via Zoom. We also coordinate parent book talks with our Village students, as well as parent and student book clubs. Each year, FOL adds more than 100 books to the library and classrooms through our various programs — Classroom Book Donations, Birthday Books and Tribute Books.
Friends of the Library
Equip. Engage. Encourage.
We EQUIP the library with valuable resources and support like books, enrichment materials and volunteers.
- PALS (Parent Assistant to the Librarians)
- Birthday Books
- Classroom Donation Program
- Co-Curricular Enrichment
We ENGAGE Chadwick students, faculty, staff and parents in activities that promote literacy and the love of reading.
- Visiting Authors
- Book Talks
- Parent and Student Book Clubs
We ENCOURAGE a stronger sense of community by bringing students, staff, parents and others together to celebrate our shared love of learning.
Book Fair/Festival
- Book Fair Faculty Reception
- Community Service Book Drives
Join FOL and volunteer with us!
The greatest benefit of membership in Friends of the Library is the joy that comes from fostering a love of reading in the Chadwick Community. Membership is open to all Chadwick faculty, staff, parents, family, friends and alumni.
We welcome your support and fun jobs are available for every schedule. To learn more about joining and volunteering with us, please click below.
Volunteer Programs
Parent Assistant to the Librarians (PALs)
If your child is in grades K-4, you have the opportunity to assist as a PAL (Parent Assistant to the Librarians) in the Village Library during your child’s weekly library time for approximately 90 minutes. PAL responsibilities include shelving books, helping students select books, and assisting the Village librarian with processing books, shelf reading and other library procedures.
BOOK TALKS & SNEAK PEEKS
Parent led book talks take place during your child’s library time or a specific time in the classroom scheduled by your student’s teacher. This is a fantastic opportunity for you and your child to see each other on campus and to help our Village librarian. Our librarian has a list of books to choose from and you will read the book to your child’s class. Sneak peeks occur prior to Fall Book Fair, and involve you reading a portion of the story and leaving the students with a fun cliff hanger to entice them to read the book.
BOOK FAIR
We offer several opportunities to volunteer at the Fall Book Fair. You can use your creative skills to decorate, help with set up, work at the event as a cashier, work the floor organizing and straightening books, and assist students in choosing an age appropriate book. FOL also sponsors a Spring Book Fair during Family Day at the end of the year. You can sign up to help set up, help parents select books and/or break down the event.
Programs
VISITING AUTHORS
The FOL selects and invites best selling authors to engage directly with our Lower Village, Upper Village, Middle School and Upper School students, either on campus or on Zoom. Students are given the opportunity to purchase the book with an autographed bookplate. We are very proud of the authors we have brought to Chadwick over the years.
BIRTHDAY BOOKS
FOL's Birthday Book Program lets you honor a child by donating a book to the Village Library. This is a wonderful way to honor your own child or to give a gift to another student. The child's name will be written in the bookplate with a special personal message. We will then present the book(s) on your child’s birthday during their Village birthday celebration and they can be the first person to check out the special book.
PARENT BOOK CLUB
FOL's Parent Book Club started in 2020 as a way to keep our parents engaged with each other through the pandemic while our students were in remote learning. A beloved Chadwick faculty member chooses a book and hosts the book club. This program was very successful and FOL has continued to meet with parents and faculty to discuss some great books and topics.
COMMUNITY SERVICE BOOK DRIVES
FOL partners with Access Books where we ask our Chadwick community to donate gently used (or new) children’s books during our Book Fair week. Access Books provides these quality books to local public schools and community libraries where the majority of students live at or below the poverty line. Since 1999, Access Books has refurbished over 300 libraries and donated more than 1.9 million books.
CLASSROOM BOOK DONATIONS
FOL’s Classroom Book Donations began In 1998. This program supports our admired Chadwick teachers by purchasing instructional materials to further enhance the classroom experience. FOL and the Chadwick community have proudly enriched classrooms with over 3,600 books, maps and other instructional materials.
TRIBUTE BOOKS
FOL's Tribute Book Program lets you honor a loved one by donating a book to the Leavenworth Library. For $25 parents can honor a student, teacher, faculty member, grandparent or anyone they love. Included will be a personal message from you to the honoree in a bookplate inserted in the book. This message will live forever in our Leavenworth Library for all future students to see. This is a wonderful way to support Chadwick’s cherished library and honor someone you love!
STUDENT BOOK CLUB
FOL is proud to support our Village and Middle School student book clubs by assisting our librarians in the purchase of student’s books.
