The soft strains of classical music wove through the air as customers mingled and shopped for books at Prairie Lights. This after-hours sale was part of the Iowa City Public Library’s 31st Annual Book Gala.
A portion of the event’s profits went towards the ICPL’s Friends Foundation, a nonprofit organization that raises funds to support different parts of the library’s programming. This gala was one of the many events used to acquire funds for the library.
Katherine Moyers, an attendee at the gala, served on the ICPL’s Board of Trustees and the Friends Foundation. She was one of the minds behind this fundraiser over 30 years ago.
Moyers told me the first gala—held back in 1993 — was quite upscale. People dressed up and were treated to food and wine. There were even elaborately decorated invitations, and the event had high attendance.
Coincidentally, they were donating to the two foundations that would ultimately merge to become the ICPL Friends Foundation today.
Moyers was astonished and pleased that the event was continuing thirty years later.
“To know that something we started was still going, it really is fun. I’m very grateful to Prairie Lights for supporting the public library,” Moyers said.
Prairie Lights owner Jan Weissmiller was more than happy to support the library. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Prairie Lights established an online shopping service so that people could still have access to the bookstore and support the library.
“We support the library. Our customers are the same people who support the library. So, it is a festive, easy thing [to do], and it’s not harmful to us,” Weissmiller said.
She hopes that people will continue to attend this event for years to come.
“It’s a communal event. [People] see other Iowa Citians they know, they see books that they may not see otherwise, they are shopping for presents for their families for Christmas, and helping the library,” Weissmiller said.
While this may seem like a small event, as it lasted only an hour and a half, it has made quite a contribution to the Friends Foundation over the years.
RELATED: Iowa City Public Library’s Knit & Crochet Hangout promotes community and creativity
Development Director of the ICPL Friends Foundation Katie Roche spoke about the gala’s impact int he community. The event generates between $800 and $1,500 every year; this year hit the high end reaching a total of $1,200 in contributions.
“Over the course of 31 years, that’s an enormous contribution to the foundation,” Roche said.
President of the ICPL Friends Foundation Bridget Feagler was in attendance alongside Roche. She was seated in the cafe where people could get treats as well as learn more about the Friends Foundation.
“We’ve done a variety of [events] in the past,” Feagler said. “Last year, we had a big event at The Englert. This year, we’re looking at focusing a lot of our efforts on our spring event, which is [called] ‘Big Future’ in April. We’ll be partnering with businesses for sponsorships.”
While some of the attendees were regulars at this event, greeting Weissmiller and Roche by name, some were here for the first time. First-time attendee at the Book Gala,
Tony Gentile, found out about the event through a quick internet search.
“I like Prairie Lights, and I want to support the library,” Gentile said. Having enjoyed this event, he looks forward to the next one.
The ICPL 31st Annual Book Gala was a rewarding event that promoted support for the ICPL Friends Foundation and allowed customers to interact with their fellow literature fans.