A lot to be thankful for this year

This is Maddalyn. She's one of the reasons we're thankful this year.

We have a lot of reasons to be grateful at Mentor Public Library and a lot of people to thank.

Let's start with our volunteers.

So much of what we do depends on our volunteers. We couldn't deliver books to our homebound patrons without the volunteer drivers. There would be no Paws to Read without the therapy dogs and their owners. Many of our programs depend on the money that the Friends of the Mentor Public Library raise during their book sales at The Read House. (If we have to single out one person from this helpful group, Dennis Hauer has raised more than $25,000 for the library from online book sales!)

The teens who help run our children's programs in the summer, the St. Gabriel parishioners and employees from Selman who painted our second floor, and the Boy Scouts who built a pergola outside of our Headlands Branch—we wouldn't be the same without you!

Andrew Brachna, one of our homebound drivers, brings books and movies to patrons who couldn't get them otherwise.

We also need to thank our Board of Trustees. They offer their time and expertise to make Mentor Library the best library possible.

And our partners! We work with a lot of organizations, businesses and nonprofits in our community. Some of them support our Summer Reading Programs. Others have teamed with us on our Core Card, book clubs or on programs. And then there are groups like the Mentor Community Arts Commission who support us with grants.

Thank you all! It's a pleasure to work with you.

Diva, one of our therapy dogs from Paws to Read, interrupts Leah's reading for a canine kiss.

Finally, we want to thank our patrons—every single person who crosses our threshold, whether it's to use our computers, read our books or check out a movie. Maybe you just need a clean well-lit place to study. We're thankful that we can help.

A library is ultimately a reflection of its community; and, if we're a good library, it's because of your support and patronage.

Thank you and we hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Thank you for making us part of your lives.

Thanks to the volunteers from St. Gabriel

Michael rolls a fresh layer of paint on the wall.

Volunteers from St. Gabriel Parish visited us this Saturday and painted a pair of our second-floor corridors.

We owe them our gratitude, just as we need to thank all of our volunteers.

No library is better than its community, and we are fortunate to live and work in a great place with wonderful people.

Mother-daughter team of Ina and Daiva give our upstairs corridor a fix-up.

For more photos of our helpful volunteers, visit Mentor Library's Facebook page.

A special thanks to two special volunteers

We can never thank our volunteers enough but that doesn't excuse us from trying.

Very soon, we will be saying goodbye to a pair of wonderful volunteers and good friends, and we'd like to take this opportunity to thank them.

Hayley (one of our Paws to Read dogs,) along with her owner Carol, are retiring.

They volunteered at their final Paws to Read session Wednesday.

We can think of no better way to thank Carol and Hayley than with a gallery of some of the children they've helped over the years—just by listening.

Thank you, Carol! Thank you, Hayley! And dogspeed!

Volunteers Give Children's Area a Makeover

Alyssa Weese and the other volunteers from Selman gave our Children's Department a fun and brightly colored makeover Friday morning.

Sue Manning smiled as she looked at the fresh layer of robin's-egg blue paint in the Children's Section of the Mentor Public Library.

"I love it," she said. "My granddaughter is four. I can't wait to bring her up here and say, 'This is what grandma did.'"

Manning is just one of more than a dozen volunteers from Selman & Company, a third-party insurance administrator and marketer, that gave MPL's children's section a makeover Friday morning.

They painted the second floor of our library's main branch in vibrant blues, yellows and greens. And they did it all from the goodness of their hearts.

Gary Sheplavy helps brighten the children's department.

Selman volunteers repainted our Children's Department as part of their Annual Volunteer Day, and they helped more than Mentor Public Library. They volunteered at other nonprofits in Northeast Ohio, including Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Greater Cleveland Food Bank, Lake County Board of Developmental Disabilities’ Deepwood Facility, Lake MetroParks and PAWSibilities.

"David Selman (the president of Selman & Co.,) he wants his company to give back," Manning said. "That's how our company is."

Erin Sheplavy stretches to reach the framing around our carousel.

Manning said she would be back at the library soon—and not just to show off her painting to her granddaughter.

"The library means a lot me," she said. "I'm an avid reader."

Everyone at Mentor Library can't thank the Selman volunteers enough for their kindness, help and consideration. We love the new look in our Children's Area, and we hope the kids and parents love it too!

We also have one more thank you to bestow. Thanks to all of our patrons who were so understanding that our Children's Area was closed Friday morning. Kids and books are a great combination. Kids, books and paint—well, that can get messy.

Blue Mordini smiles as she paints Friday morning.