Thank you to the attendees and sponsors of our 57th Annual Book & Author Luncheon on May 1 at The Garden City Hotel. Your presence and generosity ensured the success of the luncheon as a literary event, a community tradition, and a fundraiser for the FOL, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. The luncheon featured Emma Straub, author of the New York Times bestseller American Fantasy, in conversation with novelist Meg Wolitzer. See photos from the event here.
Our sponsorship categories reflect key library programs and services funded by the FOL.
COMMUNITY TECH SERVICES AND WIFI HOTSPOTS
Kim and John Keiserman
AUTHOR EVENTS
Peter & Jeri Dejana Foundation
Sidney & Mildred Edelstein Foundation
ADULT PROGRAMMING/SANDWICHED IN
Stuart M. Johnson
Pamela and John O’Connell
LIBRARY OF GAMES AND GADGETS
Amy and Geoffrey Bass
Roberta Brody
Jacqueline LiCalzi and Jill Schlesinger
LOCAL HISTORY CENTER
Alana Benjamin Group
Fern and Hersh Cohen
Ellen Zimmerman
Anonymous
CULTURAL FESTIVALS/ESOL
Karen and Ed Adler
The Agovino-Asselta Family
Americana Manhasset
Ellen and Richard Fox
Becky and David Schamis
Judith and Morton Sloan
Smusht
Deborah and Michael Zimmerman
SOUNDSWAP CONCERTS/MEDIA SERVICES
Book RePort
Karyn G. Browne
Karen Cohn
Nancy and Charles Comer
Emlyn Diakow and Keith Klang
Yuko and Ward Dietrich
Lauren and Ray Edwards
Beth and Dan Eule
The Gelman Family
Carol and William Hiller
Rebecca Hughes Parker
Dilia and Sergey Kamensky
Mary Alice and Daniel Kohs
Stephanie Meberg
Jessica and Anish Melwani
Adrienne and Drew Saur
Ina Lee Selden and Maurice Mandel
Lynn Steinberg and William Keller
CHILDREN’S/TEENSPACE
Kate Bernhard and Dave Bett
Corinne Camarata
Charlotte and David Cohen
Dorothy Donoghue
Jessica P. Feingold
Susan Kass
Robin and Vernon McDermott
Jean-Marie Posner
Claudia Rouhana
Salerno Brokerage
Michelle Schimel
Jane and Martin Schwartz
Karen Sloan
The Smith Family
Joan Weintraub
Allison and Jonathan White
Doris and Reed Whittemore
Please click here to see our 2025-6 annual appeal letter, listing new initiatives we are funding thanks to your donations!
Many of the library’s most popular programs and services are not funded by the tax-funded budget but underwritten by the FOL. For example, we support Children’s Great Library Card Adventure and Halloween Scavenger Hunt, the popular Sandwiched In lunchtime lecture series for adults, free SAT prep classes for teens, the SoundSwap concert series, the Earth Day festival, cultural festivals such as Lunar New Year and Hispanic Heritage Month, Pride month programming, Banned Books Week programming, and the summer “pop up” library at the LIRR station, among many other initiatives. The Friends also is the sole sponsor of the library’s popular Museum Pass program which provides free access to 30 metro-area cultural institutions.
The Friends is the sole sponsor of the library’s “Library of Games and Gadgets” program, which allows patrons to borrow GoPro cameras, Orion StarBlast telescopes, musical instruments, Kindles loaded with e-books, birding kits with binoculars, and an expanding list of other items for use outside the library. Crucially, the FOL helps the library address the digital divide in our community, funding service charges on nearly 100 WiFi hotspot available to borrow. The FOL also funds the popular, publicly accessible 3D printers, the centerpiece of the library’s “MakerSpace Lab” on the lower level. In the Lab patrons also can access a state-of-the-art podcast and recording studio, a large format printer, Cricut craft machines, digital conversion devices (such as VHS to DVD and vinyl to MP3 converters) and additional leading-edge tech, all funded by FOL.
The FOL produces its own special programming such as Paperback Swaps, FOL University lectures, and special author appearances. Our signature program, and sole fundraising event, is the Richard D. Whittemore Annual Book & Author Luncheon held each May and named for the first president of the FOL. To view photos of our 56th annual luncheon featuring bestselling author Chris Bohjalian interviewed by novelist Alyson Richman, click here. To see photos from our 55th annual luncheon featuring Pulitzer Prize winner Ilyon Woo interviewed by Kelly McMasters, click here. To see the 54th annual luncheon featuring Dani Shapiro and honoring Amy G. Bass, click here. To see the 53rd annual luncheon in 2022 featuring Lidia Bastianich interviewed by Susan Isaacs click here. For screenshots from our 52nd held virtually on Zoom in 2021 and featuring novelist Geraldine Brooks, click here. Unfortunately, the 51st luncheon was canceled in May 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To view photos of our 50th anniversary luncheon featuring Meg Wolitzer and Anthony Tommasini in 2019 click here (see 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010).
In addition, the Friends oversees the Ruth D. Bogen Memorial Collection, which is devoted exclusively to literary works of significance for all ages. The Collection is supported by the Bogen Fund, an endowment created in 2000 by a generous grant from the Bogen family and which is administered by the Friends. Since its inception, the Bogen Fund has contributed more than $100,000 to the library’s book budget, adding thousands of quality books, ebooks, and audiobooks to the collection
The Friends is the primary sponsor of the library’s online initiatives, and provided a major gift to create the library website as well as funding updates and redesigns. The FOL continues to support new digital features. For example, the FOL is co-sponsor of free online homework help and test prep for K-12 students (in English and Spanish).
The Friends also funds special exhibits and digitized collections in the local history center, materials for the ESOL program including citizenship classes, and tech equipment such as a Canon video camera that allows the library to provide high-quality streaming and filming of its events. The Friends of the Library Award is a prestigious honor recognizing extraordinary volunteer service to the library over many years.
Buy notecards of Old Port Washington and support the FOL – Click here!
Contact us at fol@pwpl.org or call 516-883-4400, ext. 1108.
Donors: The FOL’s tax ID (EIN) is 11-2165338. Thank you for your support!
Do you like to talk about books? Are you looking for reading recommendations? Join the FOL’s fast-growing Facebook Group Port Book FOLks, a welcoming space for friends, neighbors and book clubs!