The FRL Board has selected Frances Rapin to receive this year’s Community Service Award. A check in the amount of $2,000 will be presented to the Library in her name, to be used as she specifies.

Over the years Frances has been an innovator and an advocate for the Friends and for the Library. Under her leadership we conducted our Hi-$5 Campaign, which raised $45,000 to restore hours that budget cuts had eliminated from the Library’s schedule. We opened our Serendipity Book Store in October 1999, a project that originated with Frances and one that she worked tirelessly to bring about. Anyone who was involved knows very well that it would not have happened without Frances’ direction and hard work.

She continues to be involved behind the scenes, especially in overseeing our sorting activities in the back room as well as organizing the fiction area of our book sales. She is always on the lookout for donations, both of books and money, to support the Library. The Community Service Award was another of her ideas. It has provided a way for us to make the public aware not only of our volunteers but also other community members who have supported the Library in a variety of ways.

During the entire time she has been so active with the Friends, she has been equally involved with the Humboldt County Historical Society. She has served for many years as their Program Chair and is the person responsible for organizing the great programs sponsored jointly by HCHS and the Library.

In recent years Frances has been responsible for recruiting and scheduling the docents who serve in the Humboldt Room. This has relieved the Reference Department of the task of making sure there is someone on duty whenever the Library is open.

It is impossible to overstate what Frances has meant to the Friends and to the Library. It is with great affection and admiration that we present her with this richly deserved recognition.