Features

The Silver Spring Library has friends and small spaces

by Megan McIlroy

Hanging high on the back wall of the Silver Spring Public Library is a long, rectangular mural (see below). It depicts a group of Union soldiers reading their mail in front of the Silver Spring post office.

Nancy Pond and Marilyn Wisoff glow when they talk about the mural, because the $25,000 they raised to restore it is the crown jewel of the support they’ve given to the library in their ten years as president and vice president of the Friends of the Silver Spring Library.

With about 100 members at large, and six who do event planning and fundraising, the Friends organization is dedicated to giving a burgeoning community like Silver Spring the type of library they say it deserves.

"Library funding is less than one percent of the county budget," Wisoff says "We try to pay for things the library needs that are not in the budget."

Pond, whom Wisoff fondly calls the heart of the organization, started the Silver Spring chapter of friends in 1994 because of these budget constraints–specifically the lack of adult programming in the library.

"I remember coming here to write term papers in high school. It felt like an appropriate way to give back," Pond says.

In the last decade, the Friends have donated signs, computer tables, story rugs, bulletin boards, bilingual children’s books, podiums, and a television. Pond and Wisoff say two of their main objectives are to accommodate Silver Spring’s diverse community and to emphasize the value of reading.

"I have never come across a group of people as dedicated as they are,"says Carol Legarreta, Silver Spring’s Library Manager..

But Pond and Wisoff are not content to revel in their accomplishments. They are on a mission to give the library a facelift just like the one they gave that historic mural. Pond and Wisoff say Silver Spring residents have long outgrown the 70-year old facility on Colesville Road, which has the smallest collection of books in the Montgomery County library system.

"The staff here does a great job with what they have, but there are not enough resources," Wisoff says. "It’s frustrating–we can’t even find room for the classics classics because the library is so cramped."

"You have to have the great books," Pond agrees.

Pond also pointed to the library’s old computers and tight office space as problems that need to be addressed.

Because of these issues, the Friends are working with the staff and an advisory committee to move the library to a new location. One of the options being considered is a library in the middle of a strip of retail and housing. If this plan is realized, construction will begin in 2007.

"We need to come up with some creative financing," Pond says.

The Friends have given tours of the library to council members and built awareness in the community about the library’s needs.. Both women have also testified in front of the Montgomery County Council for funding, and last February, they encouraged library patrons to send valentines to members of the council, to symbolize their love for the Silver Spring Library.

"The Friends and the library advisory committee have really spearheaded a movement. They have been instrumental in the lobbying process," Legaretta says.

Until the day when the library moves, Pond and Wisoff will focus on the day-to-day operations that have bolstered the library for the past ten years. One of the most successful of their endeavors is Wisoff’s speaker series, which brings local artists and authors to the library to discuss their work. The events draw 40 to 100 people.

Past speakers include Washington Post Book World editor Michael Dirda, and local crime writer George Pelacanos. The last speaker will be Bethesda author Amy Shapiro discussing her latest book, Millicent Fenwick: Her Way, which will take place on May 19.

Pond and Wisoff see the library like that mural perched on its back wall. Though old and a bit outdated,the library is loved and worth revamping.