Archive: Around Town

The bad news was that Super Saturday baseball games were rained out.  But that didn't stop Lansing Community Library Center (LCLC) volunteers from raising money for the facility.  Volunteers were selling Krispie Kreme donuts in a small tent in front of the library, and at a table in front of the Lansing Community Center, where the library's annual book sale was taking place.

This year Lansing's Ithaca-Cayuga Rotary Club was working with library volunteers to organize the fifth annual book sale.  "The books come from donations from all over the Lansing community, and they have, it's great, because they have three chances to good," says Rotary President and library volunteer AnnMarie Hautaniemi.  She says if a book can not be used in the library for any reason it is funnelled into the book sale.  Then if it does not sell it is sent to the Friends of the Library book sale in Ithaca for another chance.


This year the sale wasn't as organized this year, because construction on the library building has meant no room to sort the books for the sale. "We weren't able to pre-sort the books," Hautaniemi explained on the first morning of the sale. Holly Hardy usually pre-sorts them as they come in, because we have a lot of boxes that are sort of mixed donations. So we're working on the last ten or twelve boxes, sorting this out."

About a half dozen volunteers helped out at any given time. "Library volunteers, Rotary club members, and just people in the community who just said 'Hey, If you need any help, I can help. Let me know.?' and they came forward, Hautaniemi said. "So It's a combination all round."

Rachael Strohman selling Krispie Kremes

Last year Mark Baily organized the sale as part of his Eagle Scout project, and this is the first time the Rotary Club has participated. "I volunteered the rotary club because I work at the library Thursday nights and I knew there was a need," Hautaniemi says. "We want to, because Ithaca Cayuga Rotary's focus is really on the Lansing community. That's where out exchange students live. The thing is we want to get involved in more projects within Lansing."

Hautaniemi shows off the LCLC mug

By the end of the day all the donuts were gone. Tom Keane took unsold boxes to the evening's soccer game and sold them there. The library is completing its capital fund raising effort by asking individuals to contribute. Work is already underway and the library will be closed for six weeks around mid-summer while work on the interior is completed. Library programs such as the Summer Reading Program will still take place.

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