We continue to celebrate National Friends of the Library week and our 30th anniversary by profiling the Friends of the Canton Public Library.

One of the main services the Friends provide is the Secondhand Prose Used Bookstore. The Friends' book sales have evolved from a yearly sale to a fully operating used bookstore located in the library. With monthly specials, rare and collectible books, best-sellers and popular CDs and DVDs, Secondhand Prose has attracted a big following of bargain shoppers. Stop in and see what treasures you might find.

As the video shows, it was a big deal in 2000 and 2001 that the expansion included a space for the Friends to have a bookstore. Since the library's expansion, Secondhand Prose has been an integral part of the library.

Help Wanted: Hard-working, dedicated individuals to teach, file, sort, move, plant, assist, shelve, load, repair, carry and stamp. Other duties as necessary. No pay or benefits.
[Article from 1980, just after library opening.]

Who would want that job? Thankfully, hundreds of people in the Canton community.

Volunteers have played a huge role at the library. In the very early days, volunteers helped sort through donated books, raised funds and stamped and tagged books. As the library matured, volunteers planted flowers in the READ garden, shelved books and hosted programs. Today, high school National Honor Society students offer tutoring during our homework help sessions. Kohl's employee volunteers help with summer reading programs, other volunteers shred documents, cut scrap paper, repair damaged books and shelve DVDs.

Last year, over 5,000 work hours were donated by library volunteers and that doesn't begin to include the thousands of hours our Friends of the Library put in running Secondhand Prose, the used bookstore.

We say thank you every year with a staff-cooked banquet and, as we celebrate our 30th anniversary, we acknowledge and appreciate the service Canton Public Library volunteers provide to the entire community.

The library's teen room opened in 2001 to accommodate the growing, and sometimes noisy, number of teen users. Featured on the wall is a mural created by Canton residents Betty Huang and Milli Li, students at Salem High School, whose design was selected from several concepts submitted. The room is outfitted with 11 computers, plenty of graphic novels and a collection of video games, as well as the traditional young adult materials.

In March, 2007, Tween Scene opened to provide a space for the kids in fourth, fifth and sixth grade, those caught between the children's library and teen spaces. Artwork of popular tween books, five computers and comfortable chairs made the room inviting for tweens, who also voted on the name. Today, the space includes 11 computers and is a popular spot for homework and quiet reading. Over 8,500 Canton library card holders fall into this age category.

Canton Township was a different place in 1980. The photo to the right (from Images of America's Canton Township Book) shows a parade down Ford Road between Haggerty and Canton Center in 1981, at the Canton Country Festival (the precursor to Liberty Fest).

In 1980, the decision was made to put the library in Township Hall. Deborah O'Connor was selected as the first director. Funds were raised, supplies were purchased, and the library opened on October 20.

The 1980-81 Scrapbook has some amazing press clippings and photos from this exciting time in the library's history. It's worth a look.

For more CPL 30th Anniversary celebration, check out 30 Big Links of 1980.

As illustrated in this CPL music video from 2002, reading rules. And that's as true today as it was in 1980 when the library opened.

In today's media, the death of reading is greatly exaggerated. How people read and what people read has changed, to be sure. And although there are many other things you can do at the library, books and reading is still the number one reason people visit. Fiction titles are the top circulation item at CPL.

What will reading be like in the future? Will the ink on paper format still exist? What impact will electronic books have on how and what we read? Clive Thompson's piece in Wired, The Future of Reading offers one opinion. Meanwhile, Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, is hard at work building a better book.

So, yes, reading rocks. And it rules. And it really does unlock the door to a world of imagination, fun and opportunity for kids of all ages.

For more CPL 30th Anniversary celebration, check out 30 of the Best 30s.