The Friends of the Redwood Libraries Board of Directors is pleased to honor a long-time volunteer, Kay Belschner, with the 2022 Frances Rapin Community Service Award. Each year FRL honors an individual or organization that supports directly or indirectly literary activities in the community.

The board selected Ms. Belschner as a way to thank and honor her for innumerable hours dedicated to FRL efforts to support the Humboldt County Libraries. Even prior to the board’s creation of an official book sale coordinator, Ms. Belschner was the point person responsible for organizing the volunteer team that set up, carried out, and cleaned up each of the quarterly book sales. Until recently, this included two very distinct spaces at the Eureka Main Library. It meant recruiting sufficient volunteers for two different setup days, two two-day sales teams, and two cleanup teams. But there was more than just organizing the books. FRL rosters had to be procured, cash boxes in place, signage produced, posters organized, and general publicity. Volunteers assisted in all of these various tasks, but someone must always oversee, encourage, and make sure everything is done.

If you attended any FRL quarterly book sale during the past seven or more years, you almost assuredly saw Ms. Belschner. She would spend most of two days each sale watching the sale unfold, restocking boxes of books, fielding questions, covering for emergencies, and ensuring that everything ran as smoothly as possible. Holding sales quarterly also means uncertainty related to weather. Flexibility was critical, and Ms. Belschner was adept at adopting modifications as needed on the fly.

From the Friends of the Redwood Libraries Board of Directors perspective, Herculean efforts to keep our book sales organized and productive represent an essential community service. This is why we are thrilled to honor Kay Belschner with the 2022 Frances Rapin Community Service Award.