The Friends of the Bridgman Public Library (FoBPL) is an organization with 501c3 Non-Profit status. Its purpose is to unite people who are committed to enriching the services and activities of the Bridgman Public Library.
The FoBPL raises money through memberships and fundraisers. The Membership Drive takes place in June of each year, additionally the annual used book sale brings people in from all over the county. Other fundraisers may be organized during the course of the year.
The FoBPL also operates a “gently used” Book Shoppe within the Library. Available items include hardcover and paperback books for both children and adults, used CDs, DVDs and audio books. The Book Shoppe is open whenever the Library is open.
Funds raised by the FoBPL support special projects and fund many programs for the community.
January 12, 2026
Dear Friends of the Bridgman Public Library,
Happy New Year. We’d like to let you know some of the wonderful things that happened over the past year with the Friends of the Library.
We had our most successful membership drive and now have 104 members. Our membership donations raised over $4500 dollars. This is a strong demonstration of how important the library is to our community.
We were able to fund many projects for the library including:
The summer reading program (including reading prizes and special programs)
The Gift of Reading (books given to all Bridgman Elementary School first-graders)
The program “Songs and Stories of Ireland”
Partial funding of the program on Henna designs
Purchase of a new coffeemaker for patrons and library staff
We raised over $1600 through our books sales and our Book Shoppe earned over $1300. We are lucky to have a wonderful group of Book Shoppe volunteers who keep the room organized and inviting to library visitors.
We welcomed our new library director, Terri Hebert, and gifted her a Friends of the Library tote bag. We have a new Friends logo, designed by Katharine Lion, and we love it so much we decided to sell “Friends of the Library” merchandise. You can buy your own tote bag at the circulation desk for $10.
You’re always welcome to attend our board meetings and hear more about what we are doing to support the library. We meet in the conference room at the library;
Thursday, January 15 at 9:00 am
Thursday, April 16 at 9:00 am
Thursday, July 16 at 9:00 am
Thursday, October 15 at 9:00 am
Our next book sale will be on Friday, February 13 from 1:00 – 5:00 pm and Saturday, February 14 from 10:00 – 2:00. On Saturday, you can fill a shopping bag with books for $5. I’ll be contacting members who have expressed an interest in helping once we get closer to the dates of the sale.
Julie Bernstein, President
Debbie Reith, Recording Secretary
Carl Ceithaml, Treasurer
Faith Schoon, Corresponding Secretary
The Friends of the Bridgman Library meet quarterly at 9am in the library.
All friends members and interested members of the public are welcome to attend!
They are meeting in 2025: January 16, April 17, July 17, October 16
