About Us
Who We Are
Friends of Rockland Public Library is an all-volunteer 501(c)(3) charitable organization with the mission of providing direct financial support to the library via fundraising while increasing community awareness of library services and programs.
What We Do
Our members’ generosity allows the Friends to help:
Purchase all children’s books and add books to the adult collection.
Underwrite library cards for children in other towns.
Offer in-person and online special programs for all ages.
Subsidize inter-library loans.
Provide funding to eliminate late fees.
Support the Books-on-Wheels program.
Help to regularly purchase new computers at the library for both community and staff use to keep technology up-to-date.
How We Finance Our Support
Membership fees.
An annual appeal.
The Book Stop, a fabulous used bookstore.
Special sales and events that bring our community together to support our beloved local library.
Most of all, Friends of Rockland Public Library is a group of skilled and dedicated volunteers who simply love this library. Countless volunteer hours are given each month in an effort to help the library in myriad ways.
Board of Directors 2025
Melissa Waterman, President
Charles Gifford, Recording Secretary
Jane Risley, Treasurer
Katharine Treptow Farrell, Corresponding Secretary
Rebecca Albright
Cynthia Buzanoski
Charlotte Cushman
Joni Hall
Maureen Jennings
Deborah Schilder
Janet Wolford
Christa Zuber
Amy Levine, ex officio
Friends of Rockland Public Library Katie Syrett Scholarship Fund
Congratulations, Gracie Stevens and Reese Novicka!
L to R: Gracie Stevens, FRPL Board Member Rebecca Albright, Reese Novicka
In the spring of 2025, the Friends of Rockland Public Library successfully inaugurated its Friends of Rockland Public Library Katie Syrett Scholarship Fund, created to recognize the role and contribution of the Rockland Library in the lives of local students. The scholarship, set up in recognition of a longstanding member of the Friends, was created to assist students of RSU 13 who plan to continue their education after high school graduation.
Individual $1,000 awards were given to graduating seniors Gracie Stevens and Reese Novicka at a June 5 ceremony at Oceanside High School. Each student submitted letters of recommendation, grade transcripts, and an essay on how their life was influenced by the Rockland Library.
“This has been a goal of the Friends for years now. We are truly delighted to be able to honor our late member Katie Syrett in this way,” Rebecca Albright, head of the Friends scholarship committee, said.
Katie was a dedicated member of the Friends of Rockland Public Library as well as a Library volunteer. Her love for the library came from her lifelong love of reading. As a young woman, she majored in English literature with a focus on poetry. As a mother, she instilled a deep love of reading in her two sons which continues to this day. In the face of the tendency to turn to Google for information, Katie’s solution to ignorance was always a book. She appreciated reading’s ability to educate, to help all of us identify with people who are not like us, and to understand different cultures and other ways of thinking.
How You Can Participate:
• Become a member.
• Volunteer to add your time and skills.
• Donate to the Friends.
Please join us and support our treasured library and its countless contributions to our community.