10/20/2026
Congratulations!
Cumberland County Library System Foundation Names Inaugural Outstanding Library Volunteer: Barbara Bui, Friends of Bosler Memorial Library
Mechanicsburg, Pa. – The Cumberland County Library System Foundation is celebrating national Friends of the Library Week in a very special way this year by naming their first ever Outstanding Volunteer recipient. Libraries depend on the services provided by Friends of the Library and other volunteers. The all-volunteer Friends groups organize used book sales and other fundraisers to support their library’s ongoing programs and services. Our first-ever recipient, Barbara Bui, was nominated by fellow Friends members for her experience and leadership in making Bosler Library’s Bookery so successful.
Melissa Sheperd’s nomination includes, “Barb Bui has managed the Friends of the Library bookstore, The Bookery, for many years. In the 15 or so years that I've been one of her volunteers, her leadership has stood out and made her one of top three supervisors I've had in my 40-year professional and public service life.”
The nomination continues, “To put it with some degree of humor, Barb is one of very few people who can successfully 'herd cats.’ She manages and directs dozens of diverse volunteers at a time, coordinates their schedules, and navigates business challenges unique to this type of community supported non-profit, including shifting Amazon business and situations with the occasional touchy customer, all with grace and quiet humor. She holds The Bookery volunteer community together with her insight and leadership. She supports the community at large, including child and adult literacy groups, and local summer reading programs.”
Barb does all of this while serving on the Friends of Bosler Library Board.
Bosler’s Executive Director, Jeffrey Swope, comments, “Barbara’s commitment to, and passion for, the library has inspired her efforts to make the Friends of Bosler, and in particular, the Bookery, an invaluable support for Bosler providing significant funds each year that allow the library to empower lifelong learning. We do not know what we would do without her.”
Gail D’Urso, another Friend of Bosler Library, adds, “Barbara carries an enormous amount of responsibility and spends a great deal of time coordinating the workings of the Bookery. Barb is particularly skilled at finding the special talents and interests of volunteers and utilizing them to the Bookery’s best advantage. She has had to temporarily shut down the volunteer waiting list because so many people want to help at the Bookery. That is quite amazing!”
Kathleen Harvey, also a Friend of Bosler Library, comments, “Barbara IS The Bookery in the Bosler Library. Although there are many volunteers to help, she manages all the details of keeping The Bookery the source of a large yearly donation to the Bosler Library. The Bookery would not function without her.”
To nominate an outstanding Cumberland County Library System volunteer from your Cumberland County public library, send an email to [email protected]. Include your contact information, your nominee’s name and library, and a couple of paragraphs detailing your nominee’s qualities and accomplishments.
The Cumberland County Library System, an agency of Cumberland County Pennsylvania, provides technical, financial, administrative, and training support to the public libraries in Cumberland County. The Library Foundation is a registered 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization committed to supporting the Cumberland County Library System and public libraries in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. Governed by a volunteer board of directors representing the member libraries and the community at large, the Library Foundation is also an Educational Improvement Organization (EIO), approved to receive Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) program contributions for the Summer Learning and School-Year STEM programs.
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Photo: Barbara Bui and Jeff Swope
