Resources by Topic
What Is FOTL?
About FOTL
- Board of Directors
- Beginnings
- FOTL and Imagination Library
- FOTL Stands Up for Literacy
- FOTL Promotes Legislative Days
- FOTL Advocates for Libraries in Washington
- FOTL and the Tennessee Library Association
Annual Meeting Presentations
- Libraries Are Better With Friends! (2022)
- Navigating the New Normal: How to Prepare Friends for the Future (2021)
- After 2020: The Future of Friends (2020)
Tennessee Library Legislative Day Handouts
Organizing a Friends Group
STARTING A NEW GROUP
A Comparison of Responsibilities (rev. 2017; Local Library Board of Trustees, Local Library Director, Regional Library, and Friends of the Library)
The Ethical Dozen for Friends of the Library (adopted September 2015)
Getting Started: How One Friends’ Group Came into Being
How friends can become Friends
Ideas Kit for Developing & Revitalizing a Friends of the Library Group
Libraries Need Friends: A Toolkit to Create or Revitalize Friends Groups (United for Libraries)
Organizing a Friends Group: A Basic To-Do List
Sample Bylaws of Tennessee Friends Groups
Should You Join the Board of a Nonprofit?
Tool Kit for Building a Library Friends Group
REVITALIZING AN EXISTING GROUP
How Seymour Friends Revitalized Their Group
Ideas Kit for Developing & Revitalizing a Friends of the Library Group
Libraries Need Friends: A Toolkit to Create or Revitalize Friends Groups (United for Libraries)
Top Ten (+1) Ways to Attract New Friends of the Library Members
Finances and Fundraising
Annual Meeting presentations on fundraising:
- The New Face of Fundraising (October 2020)
- Beyond Book Sales: Creative Ways to Support Your Library (October 2021)
- Exploding Your Online Book Sales (October 2022)
A Brief Guide to Government Forms
Support Rankings for Tennessee Libraries by County (2017)
Tips for Writing Grant Proposals (2021)
What Every Board Member Should Know: A Guidebook for Tennessee Nonprofits (rev. 2016)
About Public Libraries
Ag Literacy Programs in the Library (Blount County Public Library)
A Comparison of Responsibilities (rev. 2017; Local Library Board of Trustees, Local Library Director, Regional Library, and Friends of the Library)
Library Bill of Rights (ALA)
Professional Ethics (ALA)
The Public Library: Democracy’s Resource
Public Library Laws of Tennessee (rev. 2018)
Public Library Trustee Ethics Statement (United for Libraries)
Tennessee Standards for Public Libraries in the Regional Library System (rev. 2018)
Value & Vision: Public Libraries Must Create Public Value Through Renewal and Reinvention
Advocating for Libraries
Advocacy & Action: Supporting Libraries and Driving Change (presentation from 2022 Annual Meeting)
Citizens-Save-Libraries Power Guide (United for Libraries)
How Public Libraries Help Build Healthy Communities
Rethinking Advocacy as Year-Round Mission
The Small But Powerful Guide to Building Support for Your Rural Library
Ten Top Tips for Occasional Lobbyists
Tennessee Friends of Libraries Week — An Ideas Tool Kit (2016)
Engaging Your Members
2016 FOTL Annual Meeting Presentations
How Friends Add Value to Their Libraries (Tennessee Libraries, Vol. 60, No. 2, 2010)
Ideas Kit for Developing & Revitalizing a Friends of the Library Group
Tennessee Friends of Libraries Week — An Ideas Toolkit (2016)
Top Ten (+1) Ways to Attract New Friends of the Library Members
What Friends Do (compiled September 2019)
Why Don’t Board Members Do What They’re Supposed to Do?
Working With Volunteers
A Comparison of Responsibilities (rev. 2017; Local Library Board of Trustees, Local Library Director, Regional Library, and Friends of the Library)
The Ethical Dozen for Friends of the Library
Should You Join the Board of a Nonprofit?
Volunteer Management (resources from the Mid-Hudson, NY, Library System)
Why Don’t Board Members Do What They’re Supposed to Do?
Communicating With Friends
Annual Reports
Friends on Facebook (selected pages)
- Cheatham County Friends of the Library
- Friends of Tennessee Libraries
- Friends of the Knox County Public Library
- Friends of the Seymour Branch Library – FOSL
- Friends of Smyrna Library
- Friends of the Williamson County Public Library
- Memphis Friends of the Library
Friends on Instagram (selected pages)
Websites (selected sites)
- Friends of the Memphis Public Library
- Friends of the Art Circle Public Library
- Friends of the Williamson County Public Library
- Friends of the Brentwood Public Library
Supporting Imagination Library
Governor’s Early Literacy Foundation
Help for Parents
TSLA Videos on YouTube
- How to Keep Kids Engaged During Story Time: Training
- How to Keep Kids Engaged During Story Time (shorter version for parents)
Tennessee State Library and Archives
Tennessee Public Library Trustee Resources
Held in Trust: Tennessee’s Library and Archives (TSLA video)
