The Friends of the Seattle Public Library recently won a Baker & Taylor Award from the Association of Library Trustees, Advocates, Friends and Foundations (ALTAFF) and with it a $1000 check and plaque to honor their achievements. In 2009, the Friends, under took a successful campaign using social media and other tools and executed a year-long strategy to educate the city council and the mayor on the value of the library. Their use of social media tools garnered thousands of supporters. Thanks, in part to their efforts, the city council added $860,000 back into the library budget. That allowed several branch libraries to stay open 60 hours per week rather than the proposed 35 hours per week. Hats off to the Friends of the Seattle Public Library!

Are you a Friend of the Washington State Library? You can be. Go to http://www.wslfriends.org to join. 1131 individuals have also joined the Save the Washington State Library Facebook cause page. You can too at http://www.causes.com/causes/435648.