Dolnick, Sandra | American Libraries Magazine

Sandra “Sandy” Friedman Dolnick, 80, founder and former executive director of Friends of Libraries USA (FOLUSA), the predecessor to United for Libraries, died December 11. Dolnick was a member of Friends groups in Milwaukee and Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin. She developed the idea that became FOLUSA while serving on a Friends of the Library committee in the American Library Association’s (ALA) Library Administration and Management Association. She led FOLUSA from 1979 until her 2002 retirement, creating partnerships with publishers and corporate sponsors and steadily growing its membership to more than 2,600 Friends groups. Dolnick facilitated a partnership with HarperCollins to create the Barbara Kingsolver Award, which for 10 years awarded $10,000 for the purchase of books to an outstanding small Friends group. She also created FOLUSA’s Books for Babies program and wrote Friends of Libraries Sourcebook (ALA Editions, 1996) and Essential Friends of Libraries: Fast Facts, Forms, and Tips (ALA Editions, 2004).

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