There’s one thing that goes well with a good book: a comfortable chair.
But at the William K. Sanford Town Library, the more than 30-year-old chairs have seen better days. The vintage upholstery is falling apart and the vinyl on every seat has ripped.
Maureen DeLaughter, a librarian who works on the library’s Beautification’s Committee, said they have been thinking of ways to update the building.
“The chairs are something we’ve been thinking about for a long time,” DeLaughter said.
Yet the public library can’t afford to either reupholster the chairs or buy new ones. Reupholstering would cost roughly $375, while brand new chairs could come in as high as $600. They are looking into getting a few taller chairs as well, since some people have had trouble getting in and out of the shorter chairs.
Hoping to raise enough money for 15 chairs, the library will be holding a fundraiser each month. The money will go to the Friends of the William K. Sanford Town Library, which donated $1,200 at last month’s fundraising bake sale. The Friends are in charge of buying the chairs.
On Friday, Nov. 2, the library is hosting a fundraising spelling bee but as DeLaughter noted, it won’t be a typical word-lovers event. Instead, teams will be created and the spellers may lose a little more than their pride if they misspell a word.
“One of the ways we’re raising money is that if they misspell a word on the team, they can pay $5 to stay in the event,” DeLaughter said. “(The teams are) encouraged to raise money from family and friends to stay in the spelling bee.”
Children’s Librarian David Cole suggested the idea of the spelling bee to raise money.
“I know there were different librarians that had done these and I started looking on the web,” Cole said. “It sounded like a lot of fun and a way to get the community involved.”
Cole said in other bees, teams have even dressed up in costumes.
“The staff of the children’s room … we pretty much have no shame,” Cole said. “We’ll ham it up as much as we can.”
The night will be split into two parts – a family spelling bee from 6:30 to 7:15 p.m. followed by adults-only teams from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Pizza and soda will also be sold from 6 to 6:30 p.m. All of the money from the spelling bee and the food will go toward replacing the chairs. Attending the event is free and open to the public.
There will also be a few raffles throughout the night, including one for a brand new 32gb iPad 2 with a cover. Tickets for the iPad are on sale before and during the event, $1 for each or $5 for 10.
“It’s going to be fun,” DeLaughter said. “People shouldn’t hesitate to come if they think they’re not good spellers because we’ll make it fun.”