Harlem Friends of the Library will be hosting a Silent Auction at the Harlem Public Library with final bids being taken on June 8. Items will be displayed at the library starting May 25 with closing bids occurring at the Harlem City Park the following Wednesday from 6:00-7:30 p.m.. Cookies and ice cream will be provided for all those in attendance at this community event in the park.

According to Library Director Colleen Brommer, people can bid on items at either location. She explained that this is a Basket Raffle for which organizations and individuals often assemble items around a theme. However, not all items will follow that convention. For example, Marla (Anderson) Cronk crocheted a mint green and multicolored rug for her mother-in-law Karolee Cronk who donated it for the auction, Louise Nissen quilted a patriotic-themed table runner, and the Big Flat 4-H Club coiled a hose to which they added various yard and gardening tools and accessories, along with some garden décor and seeds.

About her creation, Cronk indicated that she completed her first rug at age nine, a skill she learned from Grandmas who taught her to crochet at age five. She fashions the rugs from a mix of cotton/polyester material but uses no more than 50% polyester; otherwise, the material will just shred.

"I have made many rugs over the years," Cronk explained. "My mother-in-law often asks for one for her various auction events as they seem to go pretty well. The rugs last for a really long time; some of those in my home I've had for more than twenty years! They wash like a dream and hang to dry."

A member of the Friends of the Library group, Cronk's mother-in-law is the organizer of the Silent Auction event. The Friends of the Library is a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization which supports and promotes the library. In Brommer's description, their role is to support library causes and to provide services. "We make a list of our needs and prioritize that Wish List from which the Friends will make purchases for us," Brommer stated.

Brommer reported that the library's most recent Friends' gift is a multifunction printer, scanner, fax, and copy machine. Although the gift hasn't yet arrived, it has been ordered and is enroute.

If Wednesday, June 8, brings inclement weather, the final bidding and refreshment event will be moved to the library.