Cornerstone Mission Fest 2015: Darlington Library
The yellow sphere at the upper entrance to the Darlington Libarary was painted with the help of Proell’s daughter, Trae Ann Proell, 5th grade. She and her mom, Jane, were taking a break from the Mission Fest 2015 their church, Cornerstone Baptist, was doing for the library this spring.
photo by Jana E. Pye
By Jana E. Pye, Editor, editor@newsandpress.net
For the second year in a row, the members of Cornerstone Baptist church have selected projects in the Darlington and Florence communities to share a labor of Christ’s love in action, and the Darlington library branch was one of the fortunate recipients.
Jane Proell, a member of Cornerstone, was quick to nominate one of her favorite places, the Darlington Library, as one of the choices for the church to assist.
Proell is a member of the Friends of the Library, and is serves on their board. She and her family use the library often with their homeschool activities, so she is familiar with their needs and knew that her crew could perform some much-needed help in their renovation plans.
“We set aside a ‘wish list’ over the summer of the books will need, and the library gathers them up for us. Many of the books are from the Library Consortium, meaning they come from all over the state. The library is really an asset to me with our curriculum. We are proud to give back to the community for our love of Jesus and His people.”
Last year, the church renovated the Bill Cain Tennis Complex adjacent to the Darlington Administrative Office on Pearl Street.
As part of the renovation at the library, the former non-fiction and reference area was switched with the children’s section.
New branch manager Gwen Robinson said the Cornerstone Baptist church work team has been a huge asset. “The number of people that came in to help was amazing,” she said. They came in and just went right to work. They all had experience in different fields.”
The library purchased paint and security cameras. Cornerstone volunteers donated their time, saving the library much needed funds, and volunteers from ACS assisted with setting up the new cameras and helped move computers.
Cornerstone peeled the wallpaper, sanded the walls, and prepped the areas and painted.
“We have a nice rounded window that will be a nice area for the kids,” said Robinson. “Next year, we’d like to start a vegetable garden next to that window and Liz Davis, our children’s librarian, will take groups out there and they can help us plant, water and watch it as it grows. And we’ll eventually have a nice harvest they can take home with them!”
