Library’s basket auction is bigger than ever

The Friends of the Library Foundation’s annual silent auction has a very long name, but it also provides a very big help to the Kanawha County Library System. The eighth-annual “A Tisket, A Tasket,

A Literary Basket” begins at 6 p.m. Saturday in the Columbia Gas Transmission Auditorium, 1700 MacCorkle Ave. SE in Kanawha City. Tickets start at $30, but patrons can also pay $50 or $100 if they want to donate more to the library.

Admission includes a meal catered by Bridge Road Bistro and drinks from the bar, plus a chance to participate in the silent basket auction. Each of the baskets are displayed on tables alongside a bid sheet.

Bidding for some baskets will end at 8 p.m., and others at 8:30 p.m. More than 100 baskets are available at this year’s auction, and were put together by local businesses, community groups and individuals. The library’s public relations department is packed with them, with baskets filling nearly every corner and flat surface in the office.



 Each basket is built around an item available at the library, including books, CDs and DVDs. Kid Country Toys donated a “Summer Day Adventures” basket that includes children’s books, a John Deere children’s bicycle, child-sized gardening tools, a butterfly net, bug catcher and more. Stray Dog Antiques’ “Vintage Linens and Lace” basket isn’t a basket at all. It’s an antique rocking chair, covered over with all kinds of vintage textiles.

There is also a pajama party basket, a Strawberry Shortcake basket and several Easter-themed baskets for children. For grown-ups, there are a few golf-themed baskets, a Marshall basket with season tickets, a Mardi Gras Casino basket that includes an overnight stay, as well as a basket including an overnight stay at the Cafe Cimino Country Inn in Sutton.

 “Everybody just comes up with really neat ideas,” library marketing and development manager Terry Wooten said The library has been posting photos of the baskets on its Facebook page. Wooten said that is drawing a lot of interest to the event. “People are getting really excited about it,” she said. Last month the library held a “fluff and stuff day,” where volunteers dressed up the baskets with plastic Easter grass and tissue paper. On Saturday, each of the baskets will be carted to the library’s front door, loaded into cars and driven to the Columbia Gas building in Kanawha City. Volunteers on each end make sure nothing is lost in transit. This year’s auction is the largest ever — breaking last year’s record of 83 baskets — which also means extra effort for organizers. Friends of the Library members Cheryl Morgan and Anne Silbernagel are co-chairwomen of the event. “We might be in for the long haul,” Morgan said. Morgan said often, the baskets are auctioned for far less than they are worth. That’s a good deal for the winners and since all the baskets are donated, it’s a good deal for the library, too. ”Whatever we get is more money for the library,” she said. Bidding on children’s baskets starts at $25. Baskets for adults start at $35. “And some of them are worth $200 or $300,” Silbernagel said. There also will be door prizes, a Kindle Fire HDX tablet and a Kindle Paperwhite e-reader. There also will be a raffle for an “instant wine cellar” with 36 bottles of wine and a bottle of champagne. The silent auction is the largest fundraiser of the year for the Friends of the Library Foundation. In years past, money from the fundraiser was directed to children’s and family programs. Silbernagel and Morgan said money from this year’s events will go to whatever needs arise at the library, in light of recent funding cuts. The state Supreme Court ruled last year the Kanawha Board of Education did not have to support the library financially. That led to a 40 percent drop in funding, about $3 million. Then, last fall, Kanawha voters rejected a proposed excess levy that would have generated $24 million for the county schools and library systems in 2014. “We’re just trying to help,” Morgan said. Contact writer Zack Harold at 304-348-4830 or zack.harold@dailymailwv.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ZackHarold. Print User Comments Officials seek ATV theft identification April 2, 2014 Funerals for: April 02, 2014 April 2, 2014 Don Surber: The convenient abortion veto April 2, 2014 Ramesh Ponnuru: Licensed Fortune Tellers? April 2, 2014 Commentary by Mark Carter: College athletes as union members? April 2, 2014 Letter: Obamacare won’t work April 2, 2014 Top Jobs Must have RN license in good standing. OTR DRIVERS SO MANY JOBS! More Top Jobs Contact Us Polls What is your favorite baseball team? Reds Pirates Indians Site map - See more at: http://www.charlestondailymail.com/article/20140401/DM06/140409920#sthash.B2cBH4WQ.dpuf