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Community Corner

Friends of Westlake Porter Public Library Awarded for Volunteerism

Jennifer Cirincione was named the 2011 Myrna Chelko Award recipient for her efforts to help the library serve the community.

(Editor's note: This article has been corrected from an earlier version. Westlake Porter Public Library is publicly funded, but the gift shop and cafe are operated the Friends of Westlake Porter Public Library.)

With more than 930 hours of volunteer work under her belt, there’s no question why Jennifer Cirincione received this year’s Myrna Chelko Volunteer Award from .

Cirincione, now president of the library Friends group, has been volunteering with the library since 2003. She has served as secretary and vice president in the past, but now she heads up the library’s annual ice cream social, to which she added a Chinese auction last year.

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Cirincione has also implemented monthly fundraisers to assist the library in paying ever-increasing expenses.

The Chelko Award is in honor of the late Myrna Chelko, an early library volunteer activist. Cirincione said she was very surprised to have won the award.

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"I'm one of the youngest people to receive the award,  and most of the people who have won in the past have been volunteering longer, so I was surprised to receive the award so soon," she said. "I feel very humble and appreciative."

Library volunteer Emmy Valore said that she was happy for Cirincione and thought she was well-deserving of the award.

"I enjoy working with the people here," she said of the Board of Friends. "Jennifer is very deserving of the award. She's a great person to work with."

A longtime avid reader, Cirincione said she had 13 different library cards when she was younger, but there are unique things about Porter that she loves.

"I love reading, and the Porter library has several qualities that you don't get at other libraries," she said. "There's a gift shop, cafe and even a drive-through window so you can pick up books without having to come inside," she said.

Library Director Andrew Mangles gave a bit of insight as to how important Cirincione and other volunteers are in regard to the offerings of the library.

"The [Friends of the Porter Library] Board is a non-profit organization that raises money just for the library," he said. "They do this through events and private donations. Each year, they give disbursements to allow us to have the extras that a publicly-funded library doesn't necessarily get. The board disburses about $40,000 each year for programming and other library needs. In 2010, when our budget needed to be cut, the board took on and paid for the entire adult mystery program to keep it running." 

Mangles added that the Friends, with the help of Cirincione, also works to raise funds for other needs as they arise.

"One of the extras we have is the use of a minivan to deliver books to home-bound individuals or nursing homes -- people who can't get to the library." 

Mangles said that working with Cirincione is a true pleasure.

"I can't say enough good things about Jennifer. She volunteers her time, is in her second year as Board president and has three kids under ten of her own. She's energetic, thoughtful to a fault and creative," he stated.  

Cirincione said that making time for volunteerism has never been an issue for her and encouraged other to do the same.

"I volunteer to give back to the community and to inspire others to do so," she said."It is definitely possible to do volunteer work--even with three kids!"

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