Friends of SOPL

The friendly Friends of the
South Orange Public Library

With your help, the Friends fund everyday programs and services in the Library — new books, reading programs, museum passes, and other Library services — including the initial fee for BCCLS —  for the South Orange community!

The Friends of the South Orange Public Library is a 501(c)3 registered charitable organization. Your contribution is tax deductible as provided by law.

HUGE Holiday Jewelry Sale

You do not want to miss the Friends Holiday Jewelry Sale:
Saturday November 11, 10am – 5pm*
Sunday November 12, 1pm – 4pm
Our last sale of 2023!

A massive sale featuring thousands of pieces of fine, vintage, and costume jewelry — earrings, necklaces, bracelets, brooches, men’s jewelry, Tiffany pieces, gold rings, and much more.  Find beautiful gifts for yourself and others, priced to sell at a wide range of moderate prices. South Orange Public Library, 65 Scotland Road, South Orange, NJ 07079

*Early bird admission, 9am – 10am on Saturday, for Friends Members: Join the Friends for early admission to the sale

Proceeds from jewelry sales fund new Library books for children, teens, and adults, the summer reading program for all ages, free museum passes — and this year, the Library’s membership in the BCCLS network, a major service which will make over 5 million books borrow-able by the South Orange community as of 2024. Your donations and purchases of jewelry are what made BCCLS possible!

All jewelry is donated by our generous community. Jewelry donations are accepted all year round: donate your no-longer-wanted jewelry.

BREAKING NEWS!
SOPL to join BCCLS, the Bergen County Cooperative Library System

The Friends are happy to announce that we just gave our biggest gift ever to the Library – we funded the large initial cost to join BCCLS.

By being part of BCCLS, South Orange Library cardholders will have access to over 5 million books from nearby libraries, and 60,000 digital items. You can order books from your mobile device or computer for 48-hour delivery to SOPL.

During the Library’s upcoming expansion and renovation, the Library will continue buying new books and providing programs. And when it’s all done, they will need to stock up with LOTS of new books, and will need the Friend’s help. Now we need to rebuild our funds to get ready!

Please help us – Friend the Library and support our bringing BCCLS to South Orange! The Friends have been able to provide thousands of supplemental dollars for Library books and programs every year, and the Library will need our help more than ever in the years to come.

Get FREE admission to area museums and gardens, courtesy of the Friends!  NEW: Frick Museum, Guggenheim Museum, Children’s Museum of Manhattan, and Yogi Berra Museum

South Orange residents can borrow museum passes for free admission from the South Orange Public Library. All passes are funded by your friendly Friends of the Library, and most passes admit a family.

Passes are available for the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Cooper Hewitt, Frick, Guggenheim, Montclair Art Museum, Morris Museum, New York Historical Society, Newark Museum of Art, Storm King Art Center, and for the young among us, The Children’s Museum of Manhattan and the Yogi Berra Museum in Montclair. Sign out a pass from the Library and visit a wonderful museum, for free.

Announcing The Friends Ongoing All The Time Whenever You Want Book Sale in the Library!

Where? On the second floor of the Library, across from the circulation desk
When? Whenever the Library is open
What? Excellent books, gently-used! Hardcovers $2 — Paperbacks $1

Buy books and help fund new Library books for children, teens, and adults, the children’s summer reading program, and free museum passes, among other Library programs and services. Cash accepted. (No book donations needed–we have plenty. We hope to hold a major book sale in 2024 and will take book donations then.)

Friends Home Delivery Service

South Orange residents: the Friends will deliver library books and DVDs to your home during the pandemic, and will pick them up three weeks later. Home delivery is provided to residents of South Orange for whom travel to the Library presents a specific hardship.The Friends initiated this service in February 2021, and  by popular demand, have extended it through September 2025. We’re very pleased to provide home delivery to the South Orange community!

• Borrowing limit: 10 library items (including adult books, children’s books, and DVDs).
• All deliveries and pick-ups will take place weekly on Thursdays, between 2pm and 6pm.

Jewelry Sales

Support SOPL by donating your no-longer-wanted bling and gems to the Friends Jewelry Sales.

Learn More

Since summer 2021, the Friends have funded…

• the large initial cost for BCCLS, a library network that will make over 5 million books from nearby libraries borrow-able by South Orange residents starting in 2024
• a major donation to the SOPL Foundation, seed money for their capital campaign for our future Library
• summer 2021, 2022, and 2023 reading programs for children, teens and adults, including the purchase of new books on school summer reading lists and related programs for children, books and programs for adults and teens, and ice cream treats
• two encyclopedias: the World Book and Britannica Online
• bestsellers and literary classics, travel guides, adult and teen books on social justice, equity, and inclusion, manga and graphic novels, test preparation books, and new children’s books, including picture books that support inclusion and nonfiction books on popular topics
• museum passes for free admission to area museums and gardens for South Orange residents