Mission

The mission of The Friends of the Marina Library is to provide advocacy, funding, and volunteer resources to support the Marina Branch Library in order to meet the needs of our community.

The Big Idea

With the funding we hope to receive through our campaign, we intend to set up a store for local public school teachers in which they can shop for supplies at no cost to them. Even before the pandemic and subsequent economic recession, teachers were struggling to keep up with the needs of the students in their classrooms. The Teacher Supply Closet is meant to be a program that sponsors school and art supplies so that any teacher with the need for them has access to them. By purchasing a variety of materials and setting up a supply closet at our Marina Branch library, we will be able to run our supply closet, from what many see as the center of the community. This program will not only allow us to provide for struggling Marina teachers and classrooms, but it allows us to increase library participation.

"We all know that being a teacher is a work of the heart. It is a job that comes with many, many challenges and very little return. However, with the support that our teachers need, they can take those challenges and turn them into heartwarming stories of perseverance and success. One of the challenges our teachers face is the financial investment that they put into their own classrooms. Obviously, we can’t increase the pay of every teacher in the state, but we hope that providing these free classroom supplies, will help to ease some of the financial burdens that come with being a teacher. Because we recognize that by helping even one teacher, we can positively change the lives of all the students in that classroom. Through this supply closet, we can potentially build a strong and supportive community."

- Tamara McIntyre