1

Friends of the St Maryrsquos County Library

2020

Cover to Cover

Presidentrsquos Perspective 2

Spectacular Speaker 3-4

Library Lineup 5

Fun amp Frivolity 6

Book Sale Bounty 7

Membership Matters 8-9

Inside this issue

FOL Board Members

President

Rebecca Vanecko

Vice President

Lloyd Timberlake

Secretary

Ellynne Brice Davis

Treasurer

Louie Pectol

Membership

Jon Baake

Dave McGowan

Newsletter Editor

Jill Ashenfelter

Book Sale

Amy Davis

Other Board Members

Laura Boonchaisri

Nancy Lewis

Trish Parkinson

Mary Rossi

Library Representative

Michael Blackwell

S P R I N G

March 27-29 2020 St Maryrsquos County Fairgrounds

Because

March 17 = learn something with A Night in

Ireland at 6 PM at Charlotte Hall Library

March 21-24 = help set up for the FOL

Book Sale at the St Maryrsquos Fairgrounds

March 23 = get creative with Art on Your

Own Terms at 6 PM at Lexington Park

Library

March 27-29 = come shop or volunteer at

the FOL Spring Book Sale at the St Maryrsquos

Fairgrounds

March 28 = learn something new with Intro

to 3D Printing and Design at Lexington Park

Library at 1230 PM

April 4 = relax and unwind with ldquoI Canrsquot Do

Yogardquo at 930 AM at Lexington Park Library

April 8 = test your knowledge with Disney

Trivia for Families at 230 PM at Lexington

Park Library

April 14 = get out your needles with

Common Thread at 6 PM at Lexington Park

Library

April 18 = get ready to dig in the dirt with

Master Gardeners Plant Clinic at 10 AM at

Charlotte Hall Library

April 25 = get reading and writing with the

Authorrsquos Fair at 10 AM at Lexington Park

Library

April 28 = get excited with Grand Opening

of the new Leonardtown Library

April 29 = solve it with The Art and Craft of

Mysteries at 6 PM at Leonardtown Library

2

Presidentrsquos Points to Ponder

Dear Friends

The St Maryrsquos County FOL needs your help We are facing a crisis With the good news of the opening of the new library in Leonardtown comes some bad news The Friends are losing our physical ldquohomerdquo For a long time the FOL has used the extra storage space at the old Leonardtown Library to receive sort and store donated books and materials

Due to construction costs the new library was not able to include extra space for the FOL We have been in discussions with the County Board of Commissioners for several years about the FOL being able to stay in that spot in the old library We even talked with them about the possibility of the FOL moving over to the south side (side facing police barracks) of the building The FOL would fit very nicely into the old staff working area and non-fiction area The FOL is willing to pay for any work that needed to seal off the area from the rest of the building and to pay for utilities It would be an ideal situation that would include an already built-in book drop

The Board of Commissioners had also indicated that they would be willing to discuss letting the FOL move into the soon to be empty Garvey building

HOWEVER late in 2019 the FOL was informed that they would not be moving into any building owned by St Maryrsquos County government We were devastated Not only was this inconsistent with our previous conversations with county officials it violated the spirit of a letter the Commissioners had written to the FOL in June of 2016 in which they stated ldquoWe will remain open to the possibility that you may ultimately be able to utilize a portion of the existing Garvey Centerrdquo We have requested that the County Commissioners put the FOL issue on their roster When that meeting happens it would be helpful to have as many members of the FOL as possible in the audience Please stay alert for an FOL email about the time and date

Since 1991 the FOL has helped get hundreds of thousands of donated books into the hands of new owners Wersquove raised over $650000 for the St Maryrsquos County Libraries The yearly Spring Used Book Sale at the Fairgrounds has become a widely anticipated event Every day the people of St Maryrsquos Country express the wish for the sale to happen by donating hundreds of books

Unless we find a new home very soon our ability to host such a huge well-organized sale will be threatened

Board members have earnestly been seeking a new spot to house the donated books and materials and provide a safe space for volunteers to sort the donations While we have had a few good leads nothing has materialized

Our space needs are

A minimum of 1100 sq ft

No stairs OR will need a handicap ramp as we have to hand-trolley lots of boxes of books

The space can be broken up into rooms as long as they are connected

Needs to be within a reasonable driving distance of the Lexington Park or Leonardtown Libraries as we frequently need to pick up donated books

The FOL needs YOUR HELP NOW Do you own such a property The FOL is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit The donated portion of the rent can be used as a tax write-off Is there someone in your circle of friends neighbors and co-workers that might own or know of such a property The FOL is open to the idea of paying partial rent space if necessary The difference between that and the full rent can still be used as a donation for tax purposes

Please contact the FOL board at FOLstmarysboardgmailcom if you can help us in our search

Rebecca Vanecko FOL President

3

FOL had the great honor and pleasure of having Peter LaPorte Executive Director of St Maryrsquos County Historical Society address our winter brunch at the Parish Hall of St Andrewrsquos Church in February The talk which began with reasons to take history seriously was so moving that when it came to question time the first question was ldquoHow can we get copies of your remarksrdquo They were too long for the newsletter Below is a section of Peterrsquos lecture that argues just what the first sentence argues Peter concluding by recommending that we all join the St Maryrsquos County Historical Society it is an excellent recommendation

(Go to httpswwwstmaryshistoryorg to join)

It can be argued that American democracy was born in St Maryrsquos County We know that at the Constitutional Convention in 1789 the framers feared that democracy the direct rule of common people could degenerate into mob rule or what Alexis de Tocqueville later termed democratic despotism Lord Baltimore had the same concern when forming his colony When George and his son Cecil Calvert received a charter for the colony they knew that they could not replicate the parliamentary system in England there simply would not be enough men to form a House of Commons and Lords ldquoThe peoplerdquo ndash those who elected and would be elected to govern ndash had to be defined differently So they looked to Englandrsquos history intentionally choosing a manorial structurendashessentially a long-abandoned feudal systemmdashas the model to govern the new colony The principle political unit was the manor or plantation with commoners giving allegiance to manorial lords who politically speaking were ldquothe peoplerdquo This was hardly democratic in the contemporary sense as it offered no means for the expression of popular will But it addressed one very critical component which concerned the Calverts it detached religion from colonial governance As historian John Krugler argued in his paper English and Catholic The Lords Baltimore in the Seventeenth Century rather than a mere self-serving attempt to control the colonists the manorial system was a conscious plan to free the state from the burden of religious strife by disconnecting religion and politics

But there was a glitch there were not enough men of property to make even a feudal manorial-based system work Instead of wealthy plantation owners populating the Representative Assembly illiterate former servants and freemen with modest land holdings became the backbone of early Marylandrsquos political structure The political meaning of ldquothe peoplerdquo was broadened from confinement to the landed gentry to a wider population It is hardly a coincidence that 1649 the year the Calverts drafted the Act Concerning Religion passed by the Maryland legislature was the same year that revolutionaries beheaded the Catholic king Charles in England Like Charles in England the Catholic Calverts were a minority amid a population of Protestants The Act provided something that few governments in the world ndash and none in colonial America ndash had either sought or achieved a practical legal way to protect people whose religious beliefs differed from those of a state-established religion And herersquos the point The historical thread of what was done in St Maryrsquos County winds its way from a feudal beginning perhaps all the way to the US Constitution Allow me to quote at length from Jane Calvertrsquos and Anthony Lakersquos excellent 2005 paper ldquoFrom Necessity Not Choice Lessons in Democracy from Marylandrsquos Pastrdquo

ldquoWhether he was aware of the Maryland example or not [in shaping the US Constitution] [James] Madison provided a solution that recognized what the Calverts had discovered before they even set foot in their colony that compromises must be made between [the] ideal and actual practice and that certain freedoms must be allowed if a polity is to survive The proposed federal system would provide for the greatest amount of popular participation without suppressing diversity or imposing uniformity It would embrace religious and political pluralism as the way to balance competing interests and to prevent any one group from tyrannizing others In this same spirit the anti-federalists put separation of church and state at the top of their bill of rights The result was ultimately a system much more democratic than the framers originally envisioned with a much broader definition of the peoplerdquo

Spectacular Speaker

3

FOL had the great honor and pleasure of having Peter LaPorte Executive Director of St Maryrsquos County Historical Society address our winter brunch at the Parish Hall of St Andrewrsquos Church in February The talk which began with reasons to take history seriously was so moving that when it came to question time the first question was ldquoHow can we get copies of your remarksrdquo They were too long for the newsletter Below is a section of Peterrsquos lecture that argues just what the first sentence argues Peter concluding by recommending that we all join the St Maryrsquos County Historical Society it is an excellent recommendation

(Go to httpswwwstmaryshistoryorg to join)

It can be argued that American democracy was born in St Maryrsquos County We know that at the Constitutional Convention in 1789 the framers feared that democracy the direct rule of common people could degenerate into mob rule or what Alexis de Tocqueville later termed democratic despotism Lord Baltimore had the same concern when forming his colony When George and his son Cecil Calvert received a charter for the colony they knew that they could not replicate the parliamentary system in England there simply would not be enough men to form a House of Commons and Lords ldquoThe peoplerdquo ndash those who elected and would be elected to govern ndash had to be defined differently So they looked to Englandrsquos history intentionally choosing a manorial structurendashessentially a long-abandoned feudal systemmdashas the model to govern the new colony The principle political unit was the manor or plantation with commoners giving allegiance to manorial lords who politically speaking were ldquothe peoplerdquo This was hardly democratic in the contemporary sense as it offered no means for the expression of popular will But it addressed one very critical component which concerned the Calverts it detached religion from colonial governance As historian John Krugler argued in his paper English and Catholic The Lords Baltimore in the Seventeenth Century rather than a mere self-serving attempt to control the colonists the manorial system was a conscious plan to free the state from the burden of religious strife by disconnecting religion and politics

But there was a glitch there were not enough men of property to make even a feudal manorial-based system work Instead of wealthy plantation owners populating the Representative Assembly illiterate former servants and freemen with modest land holdings became the backbone of early Marylandrsquos political structure The political meaning of ldquothe peoplerdquo was broadened from confinement to the landed gentry to a wider population It is hardly a coincidence that 1649 the year the Calverts drafted the Act Concerning Religion passed by the Maryland legislature was the same year that revolutionaries beheaded the Catholic king Charles in England Like Charles in England the Catholic Calverts were a minority amid a population of Protestants The Act provided something that few governments in the world ndash and none in colonial America ndash had either sought or achieved a practical legal way to protect people whose religious beliefs differed from those of a state-established religion And herersquos the point The historical thread of what was done in St Maryrsquos County winds its way from a feudal beginning perhaps all the way to the US Constitution Allow me to quote at length from Jane Calvertrsquos and Anthony Lakersquos excellent 2005 paper ldquoFrom Necessity Not Choice Lessons in Democracy from Marylandrsquos Pastrdquo

ldquoWhether he was aware of the Maryland example or not [in shaping the US Constitution] [James] Madison provided a solution that recognized what the Calverts had discovered before they even set foot in their colony that compromises must be made between [the] ideal and actual practice and that certain freedoms must be allowed if a polity is to survive The proposed federal system would provide for the greatest amount of popular participation without suppressing diversity or imposing uniformity It would embrace religious and political pluralism as the way to balance competing interests and to prevent any one group from tyrannizing others In this same spirit the anti-federalists put separation of church and state at the top of their bill of rights The result was ultimately a system much more democratic than the framers originally envisioned with a much broader definition of the peoplerdquo

Spectacular Speaker

4

Scholars argue whether Madison took his cues directly from Marylandrsquos experiment in democracy Maybe maybe not The important thing is that in St Maryrsquos County a profound and lasting principle was created which distin-guished this colony from all other colonies Moreover even if there were no direct connection the countyrsquos legacy offers lessons for understanding how and why democratic government evolves Quoting again from Calvert and Lake

ldquoThe growth of democracy is rooted in more than the instinct for human freedom As in seventeenth-century Maryland democracy grows because it works Yet the best means of pursuing democracy is by no means obvious hellip as the Calverts discovered perhaps only intuitively democracy in some form provides the answer to practical problems as well as to the universal thirst for freedom

In a long and brilliant 2007 paper titled ldquoRemarkable Evolution The Early Constitutional History of Marylandrdquo Pro-fessor Emeritus Charles Rees of the University of Maryland School of Law asserts that Marylandrsquos present consti-tution evolved in stages from the original grant written in Latin mind you given by a British king to a noble family In 1639 an ldquoact ordaining certain laws for the government of this provincerdquo was adopted by the Maryland Assem-bly Significantly this act may well be considered the first American ldquoBill of Rightsrdquo as it contained certain ldquorights and libertiesrdquo including religious freedom individual rights trial by jury and others unheard of at the time Think of it the freedoms we enjoy today freedoms that shape our national identity culture legal and political frameworks may have had their beginnings just a few miles down Point Lookout Road from where we sit today Here is a legacymdashunbroken and truemdashthat can reach to the very core of our nation I donrsquot know about you but i get chills when i think about that Those humble peoplemdashpeople no different than you or memdashdealing with the practical problem of getting along with each other peaceablymdashcreated something noble and lasting that touches and guides us today Our nation stands on their shoulders Lloyd Timberlake Vice President

5

Library Line-Up

Spring is right around the corner at the Library The annual

Author Fair will be held at the Lexington Park Library on

Saturday April 25 Come together and learn with local and

aspiring authors Spend the day discovering new authors and

learning how to get started in the writing industry

The old Leonardtown Library will be closed starting on April

6 to move to the new location Information about the

closure can be found on the Library website

wwwstmaliborg The new Leonardtown Library will be

opening on Tuesday April 28 and all are welcome to come

and get a tour of the building on that first day The new

Leonardtown Library is located at 23630 Hayden Farm Lane

Leonardtown MD 20650 off of Leonards Grant Parkway in

front of Captain Walter Francis Duke Elementary School Grand Opening celebrations will continue throughout the

week following the opening including several author visits

performances and classes on various topics Check the

Libraryrsquos calendar of events for more fabulous offerings for all

ages this spring

Laura Boonchaisri

Marketing and Communications Coordinator for St Maryrsquos

County Library

Hello friends

We are in the home stretch on the

new Leonardtown Library Everything is coming

together nicely for our ribbon cutting on April

28th Carpet and tiling is being installed furniture

and shelving are being put in and interior painting

is being started As will happen in any building

project we are working on last minute changes

and modifications We add a power outlet here

look at a slightly different installation there Every

day however I am increasingly thrilled with how

the project is turning out This photo shows one

nice element a reading nook patterned after The

Ark (The Dove will also be present) in which

children and their parents will be able to sit and

read Contributions from you our Friends are

making many additions possible Thank you for all

you do to make the new library and library service

throughout our county even better

Michael Blackwell

Director St Marys County Library

Directorrsquos Details

5

Library Line-Up

Spring is right around the corner at the Library The annual

Author Fair will be held at the Lexington Park Library on

Saturday April 25 Come together and learn with local and

aspiring authors Spend the day discovering new authors and

learning how to get started in the writing industry

The old Leonardtown Library will be closed starting on April

6 to move to the new location Information about the

closure can be found on the Library website

wwwstmaliborg The new Leonardtown Library will be

opening on Tuesday April 28 and all are welcome to come

and get a tour of the building on that first day The new

Leonardtown Library is located at 23630 Hayden Farm Lane

Leonardtown MD 20650 off of Leonards Grant Parkway in

front of Captain Walter Francis Duke Elementary School Grand Opening celebrations will continue throughout the

week following the opening including several author visits

performances and classes on various topics Check the

Libraryrsquos calendar of events for more fabulous offerings for all

ages this spring

Laura Boonchaisri

Marketing and Communications Coordinator for St Maryrsquos

County Library

Hello friends

We are in the home stretch on the

new Leonardtown Library Everything is coming

together nicely for our ribbon cutting on April

28th Carpet and tiling is being installed furniture

and shelving are being put in and interior painting

is being started As will happen in any building

project we are working on last minute changes

and modifications We add a power outlet here

look at a slightly different installation there Every

day however I am increasingly thrilled with how

the project is turning out This photo shows one

nice element a reading nook patterned after The

Ark (The Dove will also be present) in which

children and their parents will be able to sit and

read Contributions from you our Friends are

making many additions possible Thank you for all

you do to make the new library and library service

throughout our county even better

Michael Blackwell

Director St Marys County Library

Directorrsquos Details

6

5 Good Books

Birds

1 The Ravenmaster My Life with the Ravens at

the Tower of London

by Christopher Skaife

2 Encyclopedia of North American Birds

by David Alderton

3 The Genius of Birds

by Jennifer Ackerman

4 The Thing with Feathers The Surprising

Lives of Birds and What They Reveal About

Being Human

by Noah Strycker

5 Sibleys Birding Basics How to Identify Birds

Using the Clues in Feathers Habitats Behav-

iors and Sounds (Sibley Guides)

by David Allen Sibley

The Friends of the

St Marys County Library

would like to thank the following

ladies for their generous donations

Julia Gaff in memory of

David Gaff

Ariel Webster

and

Joanne Koterwas

7

Spring Book Sale

March 27-29 2020

THE BOOK SALE

NEEDS YOU

COME and HELP and

HAVE FUN TOO

MARK YOUR CALENDARS NOW

March 21 at both the Fairgrounds and Leonardtown

Library beginning at 9 AM at library and 930 AM at

fairgrounds

Moving boxes of donated books--- if you have a

truck or van or station wagon WOW we could use your

help We will have young muscles to load and unload if

you are worried about the heavy lifting

March 22 23 24 at the Fairgrounds

9 AM to 5 PM

Unpacking and organizing all those boxes of books

Choose your favorite--- Childrens Fiction Non- Fiction

Rare and Unusual Every building will have something fun

to do

March 27 at the Fairgrounds Noon to 800 PM

We need help keeping tables neat helping

customers passing out shopping bags check out

March 28 at the Fairgrounds 1000 AM to 500 PM

We need help keeping tables neat helping

customers passing out shopping bags check out

March 29 at the Fairgrounds Noon to 700 PM

We need help keeping tables neat helping

customers passing out shopping bags check out packing

up unsold books cleaning up buildings

STUDENTS this counts as community service so build up

those hours Find someone in a building with a name tag

introduce yourself and let the fun begin To contact

someone with questions about volunteering e-mail FOL at

stmarysfolgmailcom To sign up to volunteer go to

httpswwwsignupgeniuscom

go60b094eacac2aab9-folspring1

Come one come all to the annual FOL Book Sale

We have more great books than evermdashour store-

room is bursting at the seams Tell your family

friends neighbors and co-workers about this BIG

event You wonrsquot want to miss it

What Yoursquod love to help Thatrsquos fabulous

Just go to httpswwwsignupgeniuscom

go60b094eacac2aab9-folspring1 to sign up

8

Membership continues to grow We are now up to 159 active members with another 281 pending renewal

for a total of 440

The big push now is for renewals Memberships expired on January 1 2020 We are strongly encouraging

those that have not renewed to do so as soon as possible Those not renewed by April 1 will be removed

from the system and no longer receive FOL Newsletters and other FOL communications

Your membership must be current to buy books at the members only day Friday March 27 Those with a

current membership will be quickly validated to buy books that day Those that have not will have to renew

first a process that will be slower than for those already renewed

Renewal is easy and can be done online or with paper and a check mailed to our Post Office box in Leonardtown Online renewal can be done at our website wwwfolstamalibwildapricotcom The form for mail-in renewals follows or may also be found on our website To Renew online To renew your membership online go to httpsfolstmalibwildapricotorg Dont know your password Reset it at httpsfolstmalibwildapricotorgSysResetPasswordRequest

To Renew by mail To renew by mail print the membership form (in this newsletter or at httpsfolstmalibwildapricotorgresourcesDocumentsFOLBrochure19pdf) and mail it to us with your check to

Friends of the St Maryrsquos County Library PO Box 165 Leonardtown MD 20650

Membership Matters

9

Friends of St Maryrsquos County Library

Membership form mdash Note Membership year is January through December

Date _____________________ New Member _______ Renewal _______

Name ________________________________________________________________________________

Address ______________________________________________________________________________

Email ________________________________________________________________________________

Alt Email ______________________________________________________________________________

Contact Phone _________________________________________________________________________

Annual Memberships (January-December)

__________ $ 15 SingleFamily Membership (list immediate family members below)

__________ $ 25 Good Friend Membership ____________ $100 Special Friend Membership

__________ $200 Corporate Membership _____________ Additional donation to help the library

Immediate Family Members ____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

FOL Participation

___________ I want to help with the book sale ___________ I want to help sort books

___________ Irsquom interested in serving on the Board ___________Irsquom interested in joining a committee

SAVE A TREE AND A STAMPmdashRENEW ONLINE

Register online at httpsfolstmalibwildapricotorg

or

Send with your check payable to

Friends of St Maryrsquos County Library

PO Box 165

Leonardtown MD 20650