Carrollton Library is seeking volunteers to join its friends group and help the community resource prosper into the future.

Branch manager Shannon Conroy said Friends of the Carrollton Library, a nonprofit group, meets the first Tuesday every month at 6 p.m. at the library.

As well as new general members, the group needs a vice president, secretary and marketing coordinator.

“I would love to get the marketing position filled,” Conroy said. “If we had someone with a marketing background that could spread the word, we might be able to get all the other positions filled, as well.”

The group engages in fundraising and outreach to support the library. Its biggest fundraiser, Conroy said, is a biannual book sale.

“When we’re deleting books from the system, they come in and sell the books we’re getting rid of,” she said.

Proceeds help fund the purchase of new books and fund library programs, according to Conroy. They also help with costs for other things, like new furniture.

The friends group also runs a wine and cheese tasting every year. This past year, Conroy said, that event was also supported by Wharf Hill Brewing Company, which is opening a working brewery, pub and restaurant in Smithfield.

“We invited them out last year,” Conroy said. “It’s kind of turning into a wine and brew tasting.”

Along with fundraising, the group also raises awareness is the community about what the library offers and how it survives, she added.

“They are trying to make the public aware about things like library funding, and how much of their tax dollars go toward the library,” Conroy said.

“A lot of people have the idea that libraries are warehouses for books, but modern libraries are more of a public education system.”

Filling the vacant offices in the Friends group is important because library staff members are already stretched, Conroy said.

“Usually every year we have significant budget cuts,” she said. “I don’t have the time or the staff to do the promotion for the Friends of the Library and all the secretarial duties.

“Without those offices filled, it’s a lot more strain on everyone else in the organization, and we get a lot less done.”

Along with the satisfaction of helping the library, members of the Friends group are also often influential in its future plans, Conroy said.

“You really get to know the people in your community when you dig into a group like this,” she said.

“The Friends of the Library has a say. They are kind of the first line that I can bounce ideas off for programs.”

For registration or more information, call 238-2641 or email aohka@blackwaterlib.com.