MICKLETON — The East Greenwich Library Association prepares to dissolve after 61 years of service, (EGLA) has donated more than $27,000 to four nonprofit organizations in the township: the Samuel Mickle and Jeffrey Clark school libraries, the Little Red School House, the East Greenwich Township Girl Scouts, and the East Greenwich Boys Scouts Troop 59.
The donations will have a positive impact on each organization. According to Samuel Mickle School Principal James Marchesani, “This generous donation will be used for new fiction and non-fiction books, additional computers, a new printer, enhancing reading programs and creating more organization in our library.”
At the Jeffrey Clark School, Library and Media Specialist Theresa Wordelmann said, “The generosity of the Library Association will help us realize our goals of enhancing the nonfiction section, bringing books to our students in a variety of formats, improving the organization of our library, and offering excellent programming.”
The donations will also help with much needed renovations at the Little Red School House (LRSH), including electrical upgrades of the building. Carol Hemrick, president of the Little Red School House Committee said, “We accept the funds in memory of Emma Engle, who hosted the library in her home for 37 years and was a longtime member of the Little Red School House Committee.”
Susan Breen, president of the EGLA board of trustees for 20 years, recalled that the East Greenwich Library could always count on the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts for help. “Whether it was moving all the library’s books from its first location into Emma Engle’s home in 1963 or helping to assemble shelves when the library moved into the Berkley School building in 1999, the Boy Scouts were there for the library. The Girl Scouts were willing helpers as well: painting a delightful scene on a U.S. Postal Service mail box which was used as a library drop box at the Berkley building and decorating holiday trees for the children’s reading room.”
“This was the type of volunteerism that made it possible for the library to service our community for so many years,” explained Breen.
Boy Scout Troop 59, chartered by the Evangelical United Methodist Church in Clarksboro, has served the youth of East Greenwich for over 50 years. Leader Tim Glazer said, “The troop looks forward to using the donation to fund future Eagle Scout projects.”
According to East Greenwich Girl Scout Leaders Maureen Cook and Christine Calhoun, “The Girl Scouts put their heads together and found a way to use the donation to link the past and future. An engraved park bench will be placed at the Little League fields to memorialize Girl Scout Troop No. 6 and their Leader Gretchen Peirce, who founded the library in 1952.”
According to Breen, the Library Association wants the many residents and volunteers who supported the library for more than a half century to know that the remaining Library Association funds will continue to benefit residents through these donations after the organization is dissolved.
For two years, the Library Association, which oversaw operation of the Library for 56 years, sought to overturn the Gloucester County Library System’s (GCLS) decision to close the library. Nevertheless, GCLS closed the East Greenwich Library on December 13, 2013.
Thanks to the pro bono services of Haddonfield attorney Jeffrey Craig, legal papers have been filed with the State of New Jersey to dissolve the Library Association.
