On Mar. 25 and 26, the Sullivan Public Library held a Mad Hatter Tea Party to introduce 85 new books for children from the Libri Foundation. More than 350 patrons stopped by the library to see the new books and to enjoy tea party snacks.
Five classes from the Sullivan Elementary School visited on Friday afternoon for cookies, popcorn and punch.  One student commented that the best part was “to be able to sit and read the new books for as long as we wanted.”
The Libri Foundation, based in Eugene, OR, works to provide new children’s books to rural libraries.  The Sullivan Public Library completed a successful grant application last fall to receive the books valued at $1,413.54.
The library’s matching portion of the grant, $350, was met with proceeds from the Marca Cochran Memorial Fund. Mrs. Cochran loved seeing children at the library.  Each book bears a bookplate remembering her support and interest. Her husband, Mr. David Cochran, Sr., and son, Mr. David Cochran, Jr., indicated that she would be proud to know that the library received this grant.
The Libri Foundation also received generous donations from Mr. Joel Aron, Mr. Hal Berenson and Ms. Laura Ackerman that made the award to the Sullivan Public Library possible.
Mark Smith, library director, commented, “The library board and I truly appreciate the support that the Libri Grant provides to our younger patrons.”
The library also received a 2006 award from the Libri Foundation.  Those 67 books have been checked out more than 2,000 times, and many are now storytime favorites.
A list of the new books is available on the Hot Titles tab of the library’s website:  www.sullivan.lib.mo.us . The library staff invites everyone to come see what is new at the Sullivan Public Library.