Letter to the Editor: Congratulations to the Friends of the Austin Public Library – Austin Daily Herald

Once again, the Friends of the Austin Public Library organization is one of this year’s finalists for the Evy Nordley Best Project by Friends of the Library competition. The Evy Nordley Award is the Minnesota Association of Library Friend’s flagship prize. Named after Evy Nordley, who devoted decades to promoting Friends of the Library, this award highlights Friends groups’ commitment and innovation in supporting their libraries.

Austin’s Friends group has had a long history of success with the Evy Nordley Award.  They received first place in 2015, for the “Holiday Book Sale,” and again in 2021, for the “Flockin’ Flamingoes Fundraiser.” They were runners up for their projects in 2017, 2019 and 2024.

This time, our Friends entered their “Puzzle Palooza” event for consideration. The event, held in January of 2024 and 2025, involved teams of four signing up to compete in putting together a 500-piece puzzle. The puzzle this year was – fittingly – Bookish Cats, featuring the likes of The Great Catsby, Charlie and the Catnip Factory, and Alice’s Adventures in Whiskerland.

The Friends were impressed when the 2024 winning team completed their puzzle in an astounding 36 minutes. Most teams averaged closer to an hour, with the final contestants wrapping closer to the 90-minute mark. Each table was given a bell to ring to announce their finish. Friends Board Chair Bethie Carlton stated the event vibe was equal parts competitive and congenial. “Every single team stayed until the last team completed its puzzle, and every team clapped for the others upon completion of each puzzle.”

We at the library applaud the Friends’ ingenuity and creativity in planning these fun events that help them raise money to support library programming and initiatives, including providing a large portion of the funding each year for the library’s Summer Reading Programs. We will be eagerly awaiting the October 11 official winner announcements. In the meantime, if you see any members of our Friends around town, please congratulate them on their work or, better yet, ask them how to join this amazing group of dedicated volunteers.

Julie Clinefelter

Executive Director

Austin Public Library