Friends of the Library

09/13/2026

We look forward to this every year. 💜
Happy Birthday, Lucy.

09/13/2026

Happy 146th birthday, Lucy Wortham James.

Today, we remember an incredible woman who believed deeply in books, education, and opportunity and who gave St. James the lasting gift of a library of its very own.

We are thankful for Lucy’s generosity, her vision, and the legacy she left our little town.

Happy birthday, Lucy. We thank you.

09/12/2026

What would Dolly do?

Well, she’d hand out books to children.

And that’s exactly what we did. ❤️

Today, the Friends of the Library celebrated our little town and handed out 350 copies of "Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn" by Kenard Pak to children along the Grape and Fall parade route. It was our small way of carrying forward Dolly Parton’s incredible legacy and her belief that you simply can’t give a child too many books.

And there couldn’t be a more fitting weekend to do it.

Tomorrow, September 13, would be the 146th birthday of our own Lucy Wortham James.

More than a century ago, Lucy believed that “children should learn very early the habit of good books.” When the people of St. James wanted a library, Lucy was quick to provide the funding and she made sure that library would include plenty of books for its youngest readers.

Lucy believed children should develop the habit of good books.

Dolly believed you couldn’t give a child enough books.

And we agree with them both. ❤️

Now, we want to carry those ideas forward by making sure every child under age 5 in our area has the opportunity to enroll in Dolly Parton's Imagination Library and receive a book in the mail every single month.

It’s a big goal. It’s going to take a lot of support and a community that believes investing in its littlest readers is worth it.

We can’t do it without you, St. James.

So, come on. Let’s do this.

Let’s put books in little hands.
Let’s build home libraries.
Let’s raise readers.
Let’s raise the next generation of library lovers.

Check the comments for more information.

09/09/2026

We’ve been busy updating our website as we get ready to officially launch our Imagination Library sponsorship plans and fundraising efforts at the Grape and Fall Parade!

And see all those empty squares?

We are VERY ready to fill them.

We’d absolutely lose our minds if we had to add even more squares. (Hint, hint. 😉)

We already have some pretty great Friends to thank, and we’re looking forward to watching this page grow as we work to bring the Imagination Library to children in our area.

We’re also dreaming up fundraising ideas for the Imagination Library, and we’d love to hear yours! Want your business or organization to get involved? Reach out to us!

You can find our contact information, Imagination Library information and updates, ways to support our initiatives and plenty more on our newly updated website: https://jmplfriends.my.canva.site/

We can’t wait to fill those squares.

Edited to Add: Updated Picture

09/08/2026

Parade prep is officially DONE! 📚🍇

Friends of the Library members spent the afternoon getting all of our Grape and Fall parade materials stickered, stuffed, and ready to go -- complete with thank-yous to our amazing parade sponsors and information about Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.

Thank you to Phelps Health, Phelps County Bank, Johnnie's Bar, and our FOL donors for helping us put 350 brand-new books directly into the hands of children along the parade route.

And thank you to Copeland Bus for sponsoring 600 grape Uncrustables for us to toss!

Both the books and the Uncrustables will have a QR code you can scan to learn more about our plans to sponsor Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library again in our area and how you can help us make it happen.

We can’t wait to see you all along the parade route!🍇

Want to learn more about the Friends of the Library, the Imagination Library, or how you can support what we’re doing?

Find more information on our website: https://jmplfriends.my.canva.site/

09/07/2026

Another crowd favorite is BACK for the third year in a row…

🍇GRAPE UNCRUSTABLES!🍇

You guys go absolutely nuts for these.

A HUGE thank you to Copeland Bus Sales LLC for once again sponsoring our St. James Grape and Fall Festival parade sandwiches -- and this year, they sponsored 600 of them!

Yup. 600.

(Yes, we might have told the newspaper 500. That *was* the original plan…and then Copeland Bus said, “Why not buy more?”
So we bought more. And then printed more stickers. 😂
And if you have no idea what newspaper article we're talking about- you can read it here: https://tinyurl.com/4rr78r2b )

And speaking of those stickers…

When you grab your PB&J along the parade route, don't forget to scan the QR code! That little code will take you straight to information about supporting our local sponsorship of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library.

Our big, wonderful goal? To fund the program for every eligible child in our area who wants to enroll--with no enrollment caps.

Wouldn't that be amazing?

So grab a PB&J, scan that little QR code, and help us put books directly into the hands and homes of local kids.

And one more HUGE thank you to Copeland Bus for keeping this slightly ridiculous (and very beloved) parade tradition going for three years now! 🍇💜

09/06/2026

We’re pretty excited about this one!

The Friends of the Library are getting ready to once again become a local sponsor for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library for our community, and we are SO ready to get to work!

Thank you to Connor and Saint James Press for taking the time to talk with us about the program, why it matters, and what FOL is working toward.

We have lots of details to figure out and plenty of work ahead of us - but getting more books into the homes of local children? That’s work we’re very happy to do. 📚

Thank you for helping us spread the word!

The Friends of the James Memorial Library (FOL) announced that they will once again become a local nonprofit sponsor of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. The Imagination Library is a …

09/01/2026

WE ARE SO READY TO FUND THE IMAGINATION LIBRARY AND SUPPORT LITERACY IN OUR COMMUNITY! 📚💜

We are incredibly excited for the Friends of the Library to take on sponsoring Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library for children in our community.

Thank you to Connor Todd with the Saint James Press for taking the time to talk with us last week about FOL, the Imagination Library, and what bringing this program back means for our community.

And now you can read all about it! 📰

https://www.threeriverspublishing.com/stories/friends-of-the-james-memorial-library-sponsor-dolly-partons-imagination-library,292196

We have a lot of work ahead of us, but this is the kind of work we are VERY excited to do.

08/31/2026

The St. James Grape and Fall Festival Parade is almost here!

Friends of the Library members can’t wait to see everyone at the parade, and we are so excited to announce that, for the third year in a row, we’ll be handing out books to children along the parade route!

This year, making that happen took a little more help. We found out earlier this summer that the price of books had increased dramatically, which meant we had to ask our community for more support than ever before -- and our community showed up. 💜

A HUGE thank you to Phelps Health, Phelps County Bank, Johnnie's Bar, and Friends of the Library donors! Because of their generosity, we were able to purchase 350 brand-new books to hand out at the parade.

FOL believes literacy is for everyone — and that every book we can help put into a home matters. Helping children grow up surrounded by books helps create readers, and we hope, a whole new generation of library lovers. 📚💜

That’s why there will be something extra tucked inside each of those 350 books this year: information about our plans to once again support Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library for children in our area.

And we want to reach as many children as we possibly can!

Friends of the Library will be accepting donations specifically toward our Imagination Library sponsorship. Every donation, no matter the size, helps us extend the program’s reach and put more books into the homes of local children -- not just at the parade, but month after month.

Thank you to everyone helping us put more books into more homes and build a stronger community of readers and library lovers!

08/28/2026

Now that we’ve shared the news a little earlier than planned…

Make sure you find our FOL Vice President at the 25th Annual Community Tailgate Night! She is handing out information about Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library and FOL’s return as a local program sponsor.

Come say hi, learn about the program, and help us spread the word!

Go Tigers!