With the many programs and events, we design to beckon the community through our Library doors, the Friends of the Library form a natural bridge between the library and the Okemos community. We aim to breathe life into what is otherwise just a formal repository for literature and data. We want the library experience to be, dare I say, ultra user-friendly.

Helping us in this effort is something that came out of nowhere a while back and revolutionized how the world seeks, finds and uses information—the internet. This revolution found the Friends stepping gingerly into the electronic age. Personally, the specifics of this new technology confounded me. The more techno- gifted on our Board found themselves at my computer – a lot - giving me pointers. But I persevered and one happy day I was actually able to post an item on our Facebook page --all by myself! I had graduated from the “Tech-No” some dubbed me, to a “Tech-Knowhow!

I simply marvel at the head-spinning changes we’ve made in such a short time span. Just a few years ago a key job on our Friends’ Board was phoning members with reminders of board meetings, scheduled events, etc. Today, I carry out these functions in a fraction of the time we used to, merely by emailing to a “distribution” list containing our board’s e-addresses. I can text-message this information too. In fact, this newsletter you are reading was put together over long distances, starting from my laptop (with me in Massachusetts), through editing in Michigan, to desktop publishing (Ohio), then back to Michigan again for printing the hardcopy version. Isn’t technology wonderful?

Our Friends’ web page is in its second redesign and is easy to navigate and obtain information from. Check it out at www.friendsoftheokemoslibrary.weebly.com. We have both an email site on CADL’s web page, and our own location at www.facebook.com/FriendsOfTheOkemosLibrary We also deliver this newsletter electronically to a couple of hundred subscribers in our Friends membership.

With the many 21st century electronic advances, and our Friends’ increasing skills applying them, I keep my eye on that bridge between the Friends of the Library and the Okemos community and see it stretch and grow and become stronger than ever.