(Chelsea Update would like to thank Virginia Krueger for the information in this story.)
Each year Chelsea District Library (CDL) honors individuals who have been particularly generous in their service to the library.
The awards originated in 1992 as a small way to recognize the enormous gratitude the library has for those individuals who help to further its mission. These dedicated individuals provide great value to the library by doing work above and beyond the normal scope of the CDL staff, such as running the monthly book sale, scanning materials into CDL’s historical databases, and so much more.
This year the library celebrates the services of 2018 Friend of the Year Bill Coelius and 2018 Volunteer of the Year Julie Pecka.
Coelius is a former CHS public speaking, debate, drama, and radio broadcasting teacher, who shared his love for the library by bringing his students there to give speeches from the front porch steps.
After 40 years of teaching more than 10,000 students, he retired. What CHS lost in a great teacher, CDL gained in a fabulous friend.
He is instrumental in coordinating the media sales in the monthly Friends Used Book Sale. While grateful for this year’s recognition, Coelius shared his gratitude for those around him and said, “Hats off to all volunteers who have made the monthly donated book sale a significant financial benefit for the Chelsea District Library; and a big thank you to all of those who continue to donate.”
The Friends Used Book Sale is held the second Saturday of each month.
Pecka moved to the United States from Transylvania in 1973 and has lived in Chelsea for the past 11 years. She has been a volunteer since 2007, primarily helping with the Friends Used Book Sale.
In addition to her volunteer hours, she became a library employee in 2015 shelving returned materials.
Linda Ballard heads the effort to select the Volunteer of the Year recipient. “Choosing a winner is never easy” says Ballard. “Working with library volunteers is one of the best parts of my job. As a group, they are friendly, generous, and have great positive energy. It is incredibly hard to pick just one or two to receive the award each year as they all deserve it. To that end, I try to keep copious amounts of candy on hand so that each time they come in to serve, they get a small sweet reminder of how much we appreciate their efforts.”
The library thanks the winners, and all of the friends and volunteers who help us engage, inspire, and equip our community.
For information about volunteering, please contact Ballard at 734-475-8732 x202.
For more information on becoming a friend, visit www.friends.chelseadistrictlibrary.org.
