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holdings. To get started, she enlisted the help of Rhoda Lund, a former Republican National Committee member who had the prestige, connections, and organizational skills to make things happen. Gustavus Library Associates (GLA) was born in 1977. Lindell, Lund, and a dedicated team of College staff met with the St. Peter community and friends in the Twin Cities and criss-crossed the state for coffee parties, style shows, and membership teas that raised awareness for the importance of a strong College library. At a banquet on the Gustavus campus in May 2006, nearly 30 years later, founder Patty Lindell and current GLA president Sandy Williamson accepted the Gustavus Alumni Association’s highest award, the Greater Gustavus Award, for “having notably advanced and aided Gustavus Adolphus College.” GLA today boasts an active membership of nearly 400 and has raised in excess of $2.5 million for books, other resources, and a student-research scholarship program. The group has won a number of national awards for excellence in programming and fundraising, including recognition from Friends of Libraries U.S.A. (FOLUSA) and three John Cotton Dana awards, and has earned a national reputation as a model for successful volunteer involvement and support in education. Even those not familiar with the aforementioned achievements will likely be aware of
their immensely successful galas—15 “Royal Affairs” have been staged by GLA in the past 29 years, all providing visibility and financial support for the Folke Bernadotte Memorial Library. “It has been an amazing journey,” Lindell noted in accepting the Greater Gustavus Award. “All of us who are or have been a part of this had our lives enriched by working for something we cared for and believed in, and in so doing we made new and lasting friendships. And, we made the College greater than it otherwise ever could have been.” G
GLA co-founder Patty Lundell (left) and current president Sandy Williamson, who accepted the award for their colleagues past and present at the Alumni Banquet in May.
Upcoming Gustavus Library Associates Events Membership Tea September 11, 2006 Fall Author Day Date to be announced, check at www.gustavus.edu/gla/. Festival of St. Lucia Luncheon with guest Lise Lunge-Larson December 7, 2006 Easter Bunny Breakfast March 23, 2007 A Royal Affair November 10, 2007
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