About the Friends
We're a team of members stretching from coast to coast dedicated to the support of Thomas Balch Library. Organized in 1995 as a nonprofit educational corporation, Friends of Thomas Balch Library contributes thousands of hours toward our mission to:
PROMOTE awareness of and interest in Thomas Balch Library
ENGAGE in activities that improve access, facilitate research, and preserve records used in the fields of genealogy and regional history
EDUCATE the membership and the public through publications, projects, and programs
PROVIDE support to Thomas Balch Library and its programs
ATTRACT community resources to make those programs possible.
In short, our goal is to support Thomas Balch Library as a premier regional center for historical and genealogical research and to make Loudoun Couty the best-documented area in the country.
Friends Board of Directors
The Board of Directors of the Friends is elected at the annual meeting held in January. The members serve a one-year term.
The Friends 2016 board of directors includes the individuals pictured above: front row from left—Francis Fera (secretary), Donald G. Cooper, PhD (president), James Lucier, Patty Rogers-Renner, Lee Lawrence. Back row, from left—Sarah Huntington (vice president), Sharon Parker, Susan Webber, Dorothy Shetterly, Perry Epes, Donna Bohanon, Ron Rust, and Richard Gillespie. Not pictured: Brock Bierman, Jeffrey Bolyard (treasurer), Lewis Leigh, Jr., William Ray, and Suzi Worsham.
Since the Friends' formation, we've researched and developed educational materials for the public and for Loudoun County schools, published books, expanded community outreach, raised funds, and increased membership. If you're not yet a member, we urge you and your friends to join us!
Photograph, top: 1957 Unison Baseball Team. From the Rust Archives of Thomas Balch Library.