HOLMES BEACH – For the second year in a row, the Anna Maria Island community has shown incredible support for the Island Branch Library. The Friends of the Island Library (FIL), a group of volunteers dedicated to fundraising and support for the library, held their second annual jewelry sale. More than 22 volunteers began taking jewelry donations and sorting them in November 2023 and have been working towards the event, which was held on March 15 and 16. Hundreds of people came out to shop for bargains on high-quality items, which were priced as low as $1.
FIL member, Julie Perry said they were blown away by the number of items donated. Thousands of items were donated and priced from $1 to $50 or more. There were also high-end items from brands like Louis Vuitton, Tiffany and plenty of gold and silver. Many of the high-end items were sold through a silent auction to maximize the fundraising efforts.
“This community is just unbelievable; they’re so generous,” Perry said. “I have no words for the amount of donations we have received, it’s just crazy.”
Perry said this year, due to the incredible amount of donations, they expanded the floor space used for the sale and added more space for non-jewelry items such as handbags, scarfs, wallets, vintage items and other various accessories. Perry also wished to thank Jess Jewelers, who helped appraise some of the more valuable items, making it much easier for the volunteers to correctly price the items and amplify their potential.
FIL says the reason they do this work is their love of the Island Branch Library and the need for the funds. Perry likens it to school teachers, although schools are publicly funded, just about everyone has heard of teachers buying supplies with their own money due to lack of funding. Public libraries are in a very similar situation; while publicly funded, those funds are not enough to do everything the library is capable of providing to the community. FIL uses funds from this annual sale to support projects such as new furniture, supplies, lectures and programming. Funds from this year’s sale will go to replacing the conference room flooring that is in disrepair.
FIL is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and can be reached at www.friendsoftheislandlibrary.org for anyone interested in learning more about its mission. As of the time this story went to print, the Sun was not able to get a total amount raised from this year’s Jewelry Sale. Last year they raised $7,500, and Perry says they hoped to top $10,000 this year. The Island Branch Library is located at 5701 Marina Drive, Holmes Beach.
