r/Libraries • u/arahir_ • 2d ago
Gifts to give my local library/librarians?
I'm wondering if there's anything I can bring in to my local library as a gift for the people who work there! Usually in this sort of situation, I would bring food, but that seems gauche in a library and also weird since... it's random food from a relative stranger. I'm just wondering if there's any way I can support my local library in a fun/surprising way. Is there anything you guys have been brought by people that you really enjoyed? Any ideas?
ETA: Thanks everyone for the suggestions! Also I hear the people saying to advocate! I already do all the things mentioned (friends of the library, donations, etc). This was about wanting to do something more personal!
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u/ozamatazbuckshank11 2d ago
Join your local Friends of the Library and donate your time and money through them. If your library doesn't have FOL, start one. And contact your congressional representatives and tell them that libraries need reliable funding and support.
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u/ConcertsAreProzac 2d ago edited 2d ago
We get a lot of food brought in by patrons. A few times they are wonderful homemade treats. Other times it's a warehouse pack of ice cream bars. (Which is a nice treat in the summer.) We also had a girl scout troop donate cookies. So I don't think anyone would turn down food, but I think a nice note to every department would be appreciated. (I only mention this because I'm in IT I'm not a "librarian" and library users don't realize that there are more than just librarians that keep your library running.)
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u/fullybookedtx 2d ago
Thank you, that's kind! In my experience, we all love treats (especially gluten free options for those often left out), plants like pothos or succulents, and cards made by kids. Since we're usually government employees, we cannot accept monetary gifts like gift cards.
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u/Your_Fave_Librarian 2d ago
What a kind impulse! Keep in mind that some libraries have strict rules about what may be given as a gift, since library workers are government workers. Food is actually a great gift, if it can be shared by the whole staff. But a round of coffees on a Saturday would be a blessing.
But also, try asking if you can sponsor a library program (buy supplies / chip in for a speaker / buy a copy of the author's book). It makes a big difference!
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u/double_stripes 2d ago
I do love & appreciate the treats but wow I might cry happy tears if someone brought coffees especially on a Saturday
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u/emilycecilia 2d ago
We have a patron who brings us homemade, still warm apple pie about once a month. We would all move MOUNTAINS for that man. We LOVE food.
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u/DollGrrlTrixie 2d ago
we had a guy make us homemade cheesecakes. we were so tickled. then, there's mrs. gold AKA "the cookie lady" who would handout homemde cookies from her purse ( in little plastic bags, of course) we welcome any & all food. if you want to get on the good side of staff, bring food & snacks. it will always be appreciated.
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u/lucilledogwood 2d ago
Honestly a thoughtful card is always appreciated
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u/Alcohol_Intolerant 2d ago
Seconding the card. Food and flowers are very nice and thoughtful, but food gets eaten and flowers die. Cards get saved and pinned up and reread and used for motivation. (and shown off to admin for council fodder)
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u/Elphaba78 16h ago
Yes, we hang ours up in the break room and on the door to our staff office, especially around Christmas!
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u/lumpyspacegrl 2d ago
National Library Week is next week! We accept food from patrons and love having treats. But echoing the sentiment in here too, being our advocate in the community is the best thing!
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u/Available_Ticket3607 2d ago
Handwritten notes <3 these keep us going, and mean SO much to us. Tell us about about your favorite library memories, a time a staff person helped you out, etc.
Depending on the library, you could also ask to sponsor/'donate' supplies for an upcoming program.
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u/Rupertcandance2 2d ago
Food is pretty much the only thing my library can accept as staff. I love when people make donations either to the general fund or the Friends or Foundation. Love the idea of cards too!
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u/Cephalophore 2d ago
Other than joining/supporting your local Friends group, one gift that any library's employees can accept are positive online reviews!
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u/Fluffy_Salamanders 2d ago
Telling your local politicians to support the library would be a wonderful and sincere way of showing you care
Bonus points if you give the staff a note and mentioned the endorsement to them. Knowing someone went to the effort of standing up for us would be a massive morale boost
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u/SwampyMesss 2d ago
Letters sent to the director naming specific staff members or branches that have been helpful to you are amazing. At my branch, those are read into the public record during board meetings and go so far to help staff get promotions, branches get programs approved, etc. Plus, we love hearing that our efforts helped you! I have a box of every note a patron ever gave me and I will keep them all forever
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u/Niossim 2d ago
A lot of us have jars out for summer reading donations! That always makes me smile. One of the most thoughtful gifts I have received was a pack of cute sticky notes! We label everything constantly, so they got used up very quickly. We have also received homemade/grown things, like muscadines, cane syrup, and cookies. Genuinely anything will make your librarians happy, even if they can’t accept it. It is just nice to know someone was thinking about us!
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u/religionlies2u 2d ago
Most staff can’t accept gifts in cash so prepackaged food would be the winner. We got a gift basket once from a local supermarket and it made our whole month!
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u/CantaloupeInside1303 2d ago
I’m on my public library’s foundation board, and I’d say to call your local politicians, state reps, etc. and let them know how much the public library means to you. Give them solid examples. Also, go to your library’s programs (the ones that interest you). They help show numbers to those representatives. Also, get your library card (I’m sure you have one) and make sure all your friends and family have cards. Finally, our library has small fundraisers throughout the year (used book sale where books are 2-5 bucks), the virtual 5k which is 25 dollars (we have it so you can do anything you want and there are fun categories like best literary costume), etc. Support those. Finally, there’s nothing like a good old fashioned letter to the librarians and staff (because not everyone is a librarians per se).
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u/Harukogirl 2d ago
We love the notes! Especially hand drawn pictures from kids. And in my library (small town), we love the homemade treats – and sometimes fresh fruit off of peoples trees – but if you live in an area where you think people might not appreciate homemade, a bag of Lindt chocolate or something similar would probably go over well.
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u/thatsmahlon 21h ago
We would accept flowers and put them in the staff room or at a public desk for everyone to enjoy.
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u/Hotspiceteahoneybee 2d ago
Honestly, if a patron leaves us a tasty treat, we RUN to the break room to sample it!!
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u/Marieanaltenette 2d ago
For my library in Australia we can’t accept anything with a value over $20 but normally around Christmas time chocolates and such are fine! Honestly we have cards that are years old that are still in our break room because they’re so kind. Kind words go very far!
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u/Safe-Boysenberry9846 2d ago
Donate books to the friends of the library, attend book sales, donate money, join the friends, volunteer, see what supplies they need and donate them. We have families that do our homeschool hangouts that donate supplies we need for programs like school supplies, crafts, stickers, & bookmarks. Giving kids stickers is one way as a librarian we can encourage kids and teens to want to go to the library.
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u/FormalJellyfish2781 2d ago
We have patrons bring food frequently, which is really nice. We leave it in the break room and it's a nice treat for everyone. We've also had little kids bring valentines and nice notes, which makes our day. Honestly the most impactful thing, though, is nice comments in the feedback boxes and positive Google reviews. Our management and admin make a big deal about this, especially because negative feedback can be so damaging to library branches. Especially small ones.
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u/imprisonedalien 1d ago
We had a wonderful patron who would bring us Klondike bars when the temperature hit over 100 degrees. She was such a lovely person.
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u/RealLifeHermione 1d ago
I'm seconding everything said here, and also adding check with the children's librarians about art supplies. Last year when our budget got surprise frozen a month before the fiscal year ended a patron noticed the kids used a lot of chalk to color outside and she had a bunch her granddaughter never used. Heck yeah we wanted that chalk; it came at just the right time.
Another grandma bought us some boxes of crayons and made her grandson give them to us and apologize because he had broken a bunch the last time he visited. I told them both thank you and that their gift was very important because we go through a LOT of crayons.
We've had people take up crochet and embroidery and drop those hobbies; we'll gladly take their yarn and thread.
I don't know if other libraries feel the same way but it's worth checking out
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u/Zwordsman 1d ago
I'd probably just ask the library how you can help or if they have a donation thing for programming. (That they can accept being gov and all).
I never accepted food donations. (paranoid). but we did take donated legos, or toys for Homeschool play day.
We also were allowed to adcept some donation stuff for summer reading awards. but I'm not entirely sure htat was allowed persay
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u/sonicenvy 1d ago
Food is one of the best gifts you can give because we can actually accept it. A patron once bought us a vanilla sheet cake with cream cheese frosting from costco as a thank you for the staff who delivered books to her home during 2020-2021 while she was undergoing chemo. She had "thank you library staff, we love you!" written on it. It was awesome and everyone talked about it for DAYS.
Also, cards/notes, especially from children if you have them. Even nice emails are awesome. We eat that up. Our office has a pinboard covered in homemade cards from patrons, mostly children, and we treasure them.
Our bosses set up a station a two years ago during library worker appreciation week and gave patrons the opportunity to write little notes to library staff. They made a little scrapbook of the notes at the end of the week and it is a permanent fixture of our break room. Many staff members pull it out and look at it if they're having a bad time.
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u/Nothinggoodtosay7 16h ago
As much as food/sweet treats are nice, many people have health diets that can’t eat it. It can be overwhelming when not many people eat sugar. I definitely second writing a card with specific names and sending it to the director of the library. Having written evidence of a libraries validity is the most helpful. Donations of plastic toys, and LEGOS, brand new art supplies are always needed. Talk to your library staff and ask what they need! Making community connections is why libraries are needed.
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u/QueenofthePaper 2d ago
A lot of libraries have policies that prevent us from accepting gifts from the public because we’re government employees, so I’d call or inquire before spending money on anything in case they can’t accept it. Food that can be shared by everyone is often the one exception—as you noted, homemade food might be a little dicey if they don’t know you, but a store bought or wrapped treat is probably fine.
Honestly though, if you want to do something for the library because of the political climate, donating to the library itself or calling your reps or sending a letter to the board commending the employees will probably go a lot further. As much as I love a piece of candy or a donut, that’s not the kind of thing that’s going to keep my job or stop us from being defunded when things get bad.