Charlesanna Fox: portrait of a librarian


A portrait of Charlesanna Louise Fox, director of the Randolph County Public Library from 1949-1977, now hangs in the upstairs foyer of the Asheboro library, on public display. The portrait was presented to the library by the Asheboro Public Library Foundation, Inc., the organization whose members originally founded the Asheboro Library in 1936. Formed in 1935 from a civic minded bridge club to “procure, erect, build, establish, maintain, conduct and operate one or more public libraries” in Asheboro, this organization continues to benefit the library by managing donations and bequests for library improvement.



Library Foundation purchases chairs, display shelves

The Asheboro Public Library Foundation has purchased 30 Herman Miller Caper chairs for library Internet stations. The sturdy, comfortable chairs are the same as those in use in the library’s Teen Corner (except they will be green), and will arrive in March. The foundation also purchased additional faceout display shelving for DVDs.

Foundation gift buys music DVDs

From “Singin’ in the Rain” to Prince’s “Purple Rain,” a new, music-related DVD collection
soon will be available thanks to a gift from the Asheboro Public Library Foundation. The collection will include concert films, documentaries, Broadway musicals, feature films and instructional videos, and span musical genres including rock, hip hop, gospel, country and blues. The $1,000 gift comes from the Louise Swaim fund. Swaim was a longtime local music teacher whose bequest to the foundation promotes music and music education through the library. The fund has been used to purchase recorded music, music books and shelving for music collections, and to sponsor concerts. The Asheboro Public Library Foundation manages investments for the benefit of the Asheboro library.

About the Foundation


Asheboro Public Library Foundation Mission Statement

The mission of the Asheboro Public Library Foundation is to effectively manage and increase the Foundation’s assets and to disburse funds responsibly for the maximum benefit to the Asheboro Public Library.


History

The Asheboro Public Library Foundation began in 1935 when nine young women met to play bridge, but instead began discussing the need for a public library in Asheboro.  They formed a club to organize a library and soon the original nine (Dorothy Whitaker, Carrie Brittain, Betsy Armfield, Virginia Barker, Margaret Hammond, Alice and Dorothy Lewallen, and Elizabeth and Lucy Clyde Ross) were joined by others.  They began with no money, no books, no place and no staff.

In addition to engaging in various fund raising projects, the members pulled little red wagons belonging to younger members of their households from house to house, asking for book donations from friends, family and neighbors.  Four months after that first bridge game they had some funds, 384 books and two rent-free rooms above Standard Drug Company, contributed by Mrs. W.A. Underwood.

The Asheboro Public Library opened for business on February 10, 1936.  In spite of a large snowfall that week, almost all 384 books were checked out on that first day.

Today, Asheboro Public Library Foundation Board of Directors accepts contributions and bequests, manages the funds and uses those funds solely to benefit the Asheboro Public Library.  The foundation is a U.S. Internal Revenue Code 501 (c) (3) corporation and donations are tax deductible to the extent provided by the code.