Mission possible for East Parker County library

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East Parker County Library’s Annual Garden Party is from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 21 on the grounds of the A.J. Hood Pioneer Home. There will be a Flower Hat contest at 12:30 p.m. This major fundraiser will be held rain or shine at 1279 Jenkins Road in Aledo. A BBQ lunch will be served; music by Clear Fork Jazz. Tickets are $15 for adults, $5 for children 12 and under or $35 per family. Graduating high school seniors can attend for free. All proceeds from the event go to the library. Purchase tickets in advance at the library, 201 FM 1187 N., Aledo, or at the door on the day of the event.

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Anita Bond stands among the 19,000 books and items in the East Parker County library.

May 20, 2011

Margarita Venegas Weatherford Democrat The Weatherford Democrat Fri May 20, 2011, 08:00 AM CDT

ALEDO — This year’s East Parker County Library garden party theme is catchy: Mission Possible. And, they even have a “Bond” to celebrate it.

Anita Bond, that is.

The long-time librarian has seen many changes since she started at the library’s director in 1994. The library now has a new director and Bond works part-time, but will receive the Never Give Up Award at Saturday’s event for her efforts throughout the years.

“I’ve always been a reader — a big one,” Bond said.

Yet, her career path took her down the road of teaching and working in different fields unrelated to library sciences. She volunteered with the library for two years and while between jobs was offered the position of director.

Originally located in a historic building on North Front Street in Aledo, Bond remembers the times when she would have to dust vigorously. Above the library was a karate studio and every time the students would jump around, dust would fall from the ceiling onto the books, she said.

The building owner decided to do something new with the property so the library had to then move to an even smaller location on Front Street.

“We had to just squeeze in there,” Bond recalled. “We had bookcases everywhere.”

Then, the American Dream happened to the little library in Aledo. They were able to buy their own home.

This came after meeting resistance from a city council member who said he didn’t see the point in funding a library and starting with a collection of about 10,000 books. The old U.S. Post Office building on FM 1187 came up for sale after the postal service moved out. But, a car dealership wanted to buy it — and the library still had to raise money for the down payment and find a bank willing to lend their small organization the rest of the money for the sale.

Luckily the owner of the building wanted a public service-type organization in the building.

“We did all kinds of fund-raiser,” Bond said.

Dinners, raffles, you name it, they did it to raise the $28,000 for the down payment on the $140,000 building.

“We got it,” Bond said.

With a smile and her eyes lit up, she said, “We now have it paid off.”

Still, it takes money to keep the library open. Texas requires a full-time staffer — director Leslie Walstrom has taken that place. Plus, there’s the addition of new books, audiobooks and DVDs, as well as utilities and operating expenses.

The goal of Saturday’s garden party is to raise $30,000 — up from previous years due to lower funding. Libraries, like the much-publicized school districts, are also on the chopping block in this year’s state budget.

While the library is in one of the smaller towns of Parker County, it’s not just there for the use of Aledo residents, Bond said. Every Parker County resident who has a card from their local library — Weatherford, Springtown, etc. — can use the Aledo library or request a book or item from the East Parker County Library be sent to their local one.

Audiobooks are one of the most popular items at the East Parker County Library, Bond said, attributing it to the local commuters who have to drive from Parker County to Fort Worth or Dallas.

“A lot of people also use the computers,” Bond said, noting there are several available for public use and often people will come in to search for jobs, create resumes or just surf the Internet.

As for Bond, she recommends the Warrior series by Erin Hunter.

And, as to the award she’ll receive Saturday, she downplays it all.

“Well, I’m kind of surprised, I guess,” she said. “I’m glad.”

Back in the beginning is when all the real struggles took place, she notes. Now, it’s all about maintaining the funding to keep the library, which now has 19,000 volumes, afloat.

Then, she takes the spotlight off herself and talks about future fund-raising ideas and the value of the public library.

She does have one hope for Saturday, though.

“I’d like to see as many people as possible come to the garden party,” she said.