COOKEVILLE, Tenn. (Oct. 30, 2006) – If you’re in search of an exciting event that supports a good cause, then look no further than the 24th annual Friends of the Library Champagne Gala to benefit Tennessee Tech University’s Angelo and Jennette Volpe Library.

Set for 7 to 9 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 4, at the Cookeville/Putnam County Chamber of Commerce Leslie Town Centre, located at 1 W. 1st St., the Champagne Gala serves up more than just glasses of bubbly.

For a ticket price of $20, each guest can also sample decadent selections of hors d’oeuvres and tap their toes to music provided by O.J. Cummins and the Four Horns.

Best of all is that proceeds from the event help cover the cost of professional development grants and provide additional funding for TTU’s Volpe Library, said Director Winston Walden.

“The technology required to run an efficient modern library seems to be in a continual state of change, but the proceeds raised from the Champagne Gala each year help our faculty keep up-to-date,” he said.

In fact, since the event began 24 years ago, it’s provided more than $62,000 to fund approximately 175 professional development grants.

“We likely couldn’t have provided that level of training to our faculty otherwise, because the money for it just isn’t available from the state,” he said.

In addition, Gala proceeds funded a $76,000 expansion project last year for the library archives, which serves the population of the entire Upper Cumberland region but which had run out of room to house its extensive collection of items.

The Friends of the Library is a volunteer group of citizens who organize the annual benefit event.

“I’d like to give the group my compliments because what they do is so critical to the function of the library, but they seek so little public recognition for all the help they provide and for the outstanding work they do to organize this event each year,” Walden said.

Tickets for the Champagne Gala can be purchased by calling Walden’s office at 931/372-3408.

--Tracey LeFevre
This information posted 30 October 2006