By Anne Gibson
Not all of the 27 libraries in Pima County are fortunate enough to have Friends organizations. The Gibson-Esmond Station Library is blessed to have a community group of people that are willing to serve in a volunteer and advisory capacity to benefit their area Library.
The Friends serve as a liaison between the community and the Library. The Friends members are from the community serving the Gibson-Esmond Station Library.
The Friends provide fundraising to provide and assist with the physical and programming needs of the Library as determined between the Friends and our Managing Librarian Mary McKinney.
And lastly the Friends participate in mutual information sharing with all six Friends groups in Pima County.
The following is an example of what Friends do and who they are. On Saturday, July 3rd around 6:30 a.m., vehicles left three garages. One garage was at the home of Ed and Maria Buster in Corona de Tucson, one at the home of Dave and Emmy Stitt in Del Webb and one next door. Packed with tables, chairs, canopies, and other items like they were going camping but with an assortment of boxes of books. All traveled to the area in Vail known by locals as between-the-tracks to be a part of a community program sponsored by the Vail Preservation Society under the leadership of CEO/President J. J. Lamb. Ed Buster and Dave Stitt unloaded the cars, set up the canopies, tables, chairs, and distributed the boxes of books.
At 7 a.m. the first shift of Friend’s workers arrived along with some 33 cars from the Door Slammers Car Club led by Bill Broadhagen. Starting the day from the Friends were Mary Elizabeth Pollard and Sheila Burden who busily unpacked books, price them, and put them in display sequence.
Mary Elizabeth and Bob Pollard moved into their Rocking K Estates home in 1986 or 35 years ago. Bob was an Elementary School Librarian and teacher for almost 30 years. Mary Elizabeth was for 34 years a vice president with Merrill Lynch. There home was blessed with Sarah, who now lives in Tallinn, Estonia with her husband Alex and children Sadie, age 9, and Felix, age 7. Sarah is employed by the State Department as the U S Chief Consular Officer to Estonia. Mary Elizabeth and Bob each became the first lifetime members of the Friends of the Esmond Station Library. Alex and Sarah became the first international family members.
Sheila and John Burden moved to Tucson from Connecticut about ten months ago. John worked for IBM and they were transferred to Tucson 23 years ago. They loved it here, but in less than two years they were transferred to White Plains, NY. Two years later they finally settled in Connecticut for 18 years. They have two boys. Jacob is 24 years old living in Baltimore, MD and Spencer is 22 years old living in Boulder, CO. Sheila loves to read. She loves the smell and feel of books. So, no Kindle for her! She also loves interior design, which is why she is excited to be building a house in Coyote Creek the end of the year. She joined Friends, not only to meet new people, but someday would love to work in a library.
The next Friend to arrive was Theresa Foerster. Both she and her husband Gary were born and reared in Chicago. Theresa and Gary have been married for forty-five years, fifteen of which have been spent in Vail. Theresa is retired as a Pre-K Director for a private school in Illinois. They have two children and three grandchildren. Best of all, Theresa is an avid reader who loves books. She walks everyday, does Yoga, and loves word puzzles.
As the program began to wind down, Friend’s member Janice Allen arrived to help with close things down and packing the books that hadn’t sold for the next event. Janice and her husband Lee were both born and reared in Iowa. It was during their 18 years in Montana that Janice took up hiking. When they moved to Tucson Janice worked on the Arizona Trails north and south of Colossal Cave. For four years Janice signed up to help with the cooking for the AZ Trails Group at the North Rim District of the Grand Canyon. She is a big knitter, currently working on a heather brown poncho. She even took a class in yarn dying.
Now you have an idea of the interesting people who become Friends members. But how do you become a Friend of the Esmond Station Library? You may simply email FESL2021@gmail.com or annegibson7975@aol.com and request a membership application.
Whittley “Anne” Gibson is a third generation Tucsonan and alumni of the University of Arizona. She has been an active community member in the greater Vail area since the late 1970s.
