WESTERN SULLIVAN COUNTY, NY — Entering her freshman year at Sullivan West High School, Sidney Solomon already has some great business success on her resume. A recent project at Homestead School required students to create a micro-business and raise money for the cause of their choice. Sidney’s project was a beeswax candle in a handmade ceramic container. Sales of her candles enabled her to donate $934 to the “Feel the Heat” capital campaign to replace the furnace at the Callicoon branch of the Western Sullivan Public Library system. Sidney’s contribution alone counted for nearly 10% of the total monies to be raised in the community ($10,000), to then be matched by the WSPL Friends of the Library to cover the total furnace costs of $20,000.

Sidney chose the capital campaign fund because she knows what a valuable resource the libraries are in our communities. “I wanted to be sure it [the library] would be there for everybody in the community in the best condition it could be in.”

Since the state-supported library system cannot fund raise for emergency needs, the Friends of the Library committee created the Feel the Heat campaign this year to help defray costs of repairs and other capital needs at any of the three Western Sullivan library branches—Jeffersonville, Narrowsburg and Callicoon—as they occur. Friends of the Library funds are chiefly supported by local book sales, and other events and donations throughout the year.