The Friends of Mathews Memorial Library, Inc., marked its 40th anniversary earlier this year, and Friends’ president Joi Ball has provided an impressive list of the group’s accomplishments over the decades.
Perhaps the most astonishing achievement is that the Friends raised more than $2 million for two major library expansions. Ball said the group has adhered to a distinct mission through the decades. “The Friends of Mathews Memorial Library advocate for our community library; support its programs, services, and capital expansion; and promote literacy in the community,” Ball said.
The library itself, by the time the Friends were organized, was on the move to its Main Street location, the former Farmers Bank of Mathews Building, from its original site on Mathews Court Green.
The library was conceived in 1926 as a memorial for Mathews County men who had lost their lives in the First World War. Fundraising and construction took many years, interrupted by the Great Depression and significa...