Hello Friends,

I hope this finds you well, as this unprecedented experience continues. If you are like me, Friends book sales are one of the things you have missed the most during this time. But you can still buy books and support the Friends of the Library with AmazonSmile!

It's easy to select the Friends as your AmazonSmile charity, and support the library at no cost to you. It may not be the same as a physical sale, but it's an awesome way to support the library until we can meet again. If you have any questions about AmazonSmile, visit librarypoint.org/ask to get help via email or chat.

Stay safe!

Candace Schmidt, Friends President

Supporting the Library with AmazonSmile

Through AmazonSmile, you can support the library at no cost to you, and now it's even easier because you can choose your AmazonSmile charitable organization through the Amazon Shopping app.

When making purchases through AmazonSmile, 0.5% of the purchase price of eligible products is donated to the charitable organization of your choice.

To get started with the Amazon Shopping app:

1. Go into the main menu and tap on Settings.
2. Tap AmazonSmile. 
3. Choose "Friends of the Central Rappahannock Regional Library" and tap the “Turn on AmazonSmile” button.

To get started on a computer, go to smile.amazon.com.

1. Log in with your Amazon email and password.
2. Pick "Friends of the Central Rappahannock Regional Library" as your charitable organization.
3. To skip this step and automatically be prompted to support the Friends of the Library, follow this link: smile.amazon.com/ch/23-7304207.

Now you can support the library whether checking out on smile.amazon.com or on the Amazon Shopping app!

Friend of the Library Added to Wall of Honor

Jerry Holland Brent was a Fredericksburg native who became executive director of the Central Battlefields Trust after a 30-year career with the Rural Utilities Service at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

He had a great love for history, especially his hometown’s. This inspired his impressive collection of local historic documents and artifacts, many of which were found at yard sales and auctions. 

These photographs and early postcards, shared in a Fredericksburg Area Museum display, document the buildings and vistas both locally and statewide.

“Fredericksburg is lucky to have people like Jerry Brent as citizens,” wrote Jeanette Rowe Cadwallender, who nominated him. “Quiet, capable, and unassuming, he helped to tell the story of our historic past.”

He and his wife, Lou Thornton Brent, lived on Washington Avenue and were benefactors of local artists. Brent died June 17, 2014.

Other honorees to be added:.

• Josiah P. Rowe III, former Fredericksburg mayor and longtime owner and publisher of The Free Lance–Star. He served as president of the Virginia Press Association and on the Newspaper Association of America’s technology and communications committee. He was picked for induction into the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame in 1994, and was named to the AP Broadcasters’ Hall of Fame in 2010.

• O’Neal Mercer, Fredericksburg Branch NAACP’s first president, parliamentarian of the Virginia State Convention, and Area 13 Virginia State NAACP chairperson. He also served as a president of the Mayfield Civic Association, and was a member of the Walker–Grant Alumni Association and Citizens United for Action.

• Robert “Hotsy” Moore, president and manager of Young & Sweetser Co., was also involved with the Lions Club Follies, a charter member and production manager of the Fredericksburg Little Theater, and performed with the Mary Washington College Players. He fought to preserve Fredericksburg’s historic buildings before Historic Fredericksburg Foundation Inc. was formed.

Donna Cote, CRRL Director for 34 years, was added to the Wall of Honor in 2017. A Virginia House of Delegates resolution honored Cote for her lifetime of achievements shortly after her death on February 19, 2016, and the Virginia Library Association created the annual Donna G. Cote Librarian of the Year Award in her honor.

CRRL also created a Cote Society to honor those who joined or renewed membership in the Friends of the Central Rappahannock Regional Library with $100 or more a year.

Under Cote’s leadership, the library system grew from two locations, the former Lafayette School in Fredericksburg and a storefront library in Colonial Beach, to one of the most successful regional library systems in the state. At her retirement in 2015, the library had eight branches offering a wide range of services, and was ranked first in the state and fifth in the nation for libraries serving 250,000 to 500,000 people, according to Hennen’s American Public Library Ratings.

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