FRIENDS DONATE $15,000 TO THE BUDA LIBRARY 

Thanks to your generous support we donated $15,000 to the Buda Library for 2021!  From youth programs to online resources to award-winning books and more, the Friends annual donation is a critical funding source for the Library especially as the demand for services and programs continues to grow.

FY 2020 was an incredibly challenging year due to COVID-19.  The library was only open for 31 weeks in 2020.  When the doors were shut due to city restrictions,  librarians were providing curbside pickup for the community and encouraging people to use the amazing resources on the website (Overdrive, Mango, RBdigital magazines, etc.)  The library staff responded by becoming very creative in developing ways to meet the community's needs.  Classes and programs were conducted virtually, some of which were created while staff was working at home. 

Library Director, Melinda Hodges, shared the following data for FY 2020:

• 135,525 items circulated
  
• 50,509 visitors
  
• 402 programs attended by 8,206 people
  
• Videos for all ages posted on library website (100+) with almost 3,200 views

Continuing priorities are the health and safety of the library staff as well as the community.  As it becomes safe more in-person services will be added.  Rebuilding will take time.