Friends Of The Hennepin County Library

Pen pals: pen pals is the highly acclaimed, longest running literary series in the twin cities featuring award-winning, best-selling authors who speak on their life and work as writers. This author lecture series generates income supporting the organization's mission. Forty-three volunteers assisted staff at five in-person events, contributing 320 hours to the program. In 2024, 5,600 people attended in-person events, and 3,340 households attended virtual livestream programs or on-demand recordings.

Public awareness and donor engagement: talk of the stacks is a free author lecture series produced by friends with guest authors who focus on contemporary literature and culture across an array of social, economic and global topics. The 2024 season included three in-person events, that also offered a virtual livestream option, and two virtual-only programs. In total, 615 people attended in-person events, 2,434 households attended virtual programs and 2,516 accessed on-demand recordings throughout the year at no cost. In addition to these programs, two author/book club panel events were produced with 375 people attending in-person, 350 households attending virtually, and another 905 attendees viewing the on-demand recording thereafter. Finally, one library fundraiser (continued on schedule o)was attended by 148 guests, and one donor stewardship luncheon was attended by 158 guests. Further public awareness pieces on behalf of the library system: 6,600 printed event guides were distributed to audience members at the five in-person pen pals events and three in-person talk of the stacks events, and 1,330 attendees accessed virtual event guides. More than 19,770 print newsletters were distributed. 80+ email communications were sent to 28,919 e-news subscribers. Social media followers (facebook, instagram, twitter, linkedin) grew to 12,870 subscribers, and fhcl website visits expanded to 174,296.