RFL Association & Friends

Friends of the Riverton Free Library

The Friends of the Riverton Free Library donate their time to help organize and run several programs that benefit our library.  Those programs include a monthly used book sale, an annual Cocktail Social, and a biennial Candlelight House Tour.  Check our What’s New, Programs & Events posts, and Like us on Facebook for event dates.  Please call the library if you are interested in showcasing your home for the holiday tour.  Be a part of this magical evening as well as other of their fundraising events!

Riverton Free Library Association

The Riverton Free Library Association, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization and works in coordination with the Burlington County Library System, as the library is a branch of BCLS. Donations and memorial contributions can be made payable to the Riverton Free Library Association and sent to the library at 306 Main Street, Riverton, NJ  08077.

Here is a link to our current bylaws: RFL Association Bylaws 2023. The Association is responsible for the care and maintenance of the building and grounds.  We contribute to the purchase of resources and support library programs.

In 2007/2008, the Association was responsible for creating a survey of services, then had it printed and distributed to all households in the Riverton and Palmyra communities  Information from the survey was collated, a public meeting was held to discuss the results as well as gather further community input, and a document was created to help guide the Association, directing it funding of library services.  The Library Service Survey and Planning Document can provide further details of the process and the service direction that the Association and library hope to pursue over the next few years.  Click on the Document link or you can view copies that are available at the library — just ask the staff.

Sketch by Christian Ancker

Sketch by Christian Ancker

Association board meetings are held three times a year — the second Tuesday in January, April, and September.  We welcome the public to attend.  Meetings are held in the Fiction Reading Room in the back of the library and begin at 6 PM.

The Association is responsible for crafting, publishing, and distributing the library’s Annual Newsletter and appeal. It is mailed to all residents in Palmyra and Riverton, as well as to those members who are added to our mailing list. The Newsletter & Appeal highlights library news and events, especially those projects that were funded by the donations that the Association receives. To view those newsletters, see below.

2004  — 2005 — 2006 — 2007 — 2008 — 2009 — 2010 — 2011 — 2012 — 2013 — 20142015 — 2016 — 2017 2018  — 2019 2020 — 2021 -2022- 2023

We especially appreciate all the volunteers who have volunteered to serve on the Board of Trustees, especially our presidents. Reverend R. Bowden Shepherd (1907-1911); Robert Biddle (1911-1927); J Carl De La Cour (1927-1932); Harry F. Jones (1932-?); Mr. Jones (1960-1963); F. W. Thatcher (1963-1975); Walter Croft (1975-1978); Marvin Ellis (1978-1979); Edward McCabe (1979-1981); Susan Marshall (1981-1986); Jean Robbins (1986-2001); Karen Ancker Healey (2001-2016); our current president, Kimberly Pauslen (2016 – present).

Image: This undated invitation, c early 1960s, was written by a librarian, Therese S. Barclay to promote membership in the Riverton Free Library Association. Membership in the Association (of $2.00) entitled residents to use the library. Mrs. Barclay served the library as its third director from 1944-1963.