CALUMET TOWNSHIP — Just in time for the holidays, Friends of the Calumet Public Library (FOL) will sponsor its November Used Book Sale from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 18, in the library’s Community Room. The event is open to the public.

Sponsored by the FOL, the used book sales are the organization’s primary fundraiser, FOL stated in a Tuesday release. The sale features a wide variety of books, CDs and DVDs in several genres and is scheduled for the same time as the Old-Fashioned Christmas Bazaar, which will be held across the hall in the CLK Gym and also a soup and salad luncheon sponsored by the Calumet High School Band Parents.

“There’s a lot to do at the school on the 18th, so plan to spend some time there,” the Friends said in the release.

Proceeds from this fundraiser go to sponsor library services and programs not provided for by the general library budget, the release says. In recent years, funds have been used to purchase Mango Languages (a world language teaching program available to all library patrons), large print books, multiple titles for the Red Jacket Readers Book Club, and many new books including additions to the children’s, YA, and adult collections. Funding also helps support evening programs at the library throughout the year.

Everyone is welcome to attend the discussions of the Red Jacket Readers Book Club, the release says. The next meeting is scheduled for Nov. 15.

The public is also welcome to attend the monthly FOL meetings on the second Tuesday of the month at 5:30 p.m. in the Community Room.

Volunteers are always welcome at the library, and the FOL can help connect those interested in volunteering with opportunities.

The Calumet Public Library is located at 57070 Mine Street, in Calumet Township, in the rear of the CLK Schools. The CLK Schools library website states that the facility is a combined library that serves as both a school library and as a public library. It is the mission of the Calumet Public-School Library to make educational, informational and recreational materials accessible to the residents of the public library service area, and the students of the Public Schools of Calumet, Laurium and Keweenaw.

The library website states that the library has a long history in Calumet. The public library, like so many other community services, was first provided by the Calumet Hecla Mining Company (C&H). The library was first opened to the public in 1899.

The Summary of Operations of the C&H for April 1898 reported that the public library for the use of its employees was completed in that year and it was hoped to have it open to the general public that summer.

“The Library will be placed under the control of the Library Board of the Calumet Township School Board,” the report stated.

The Summary of Operations for the following year reported:

“The Public Library for the use of our employees was opened to the public last September (1898) and thus far has been a great success.”

The library continued to gain in popularity over the years. The Summary of Operations for 1901 reported: “There has been a very satisfying increase during the past year in the number of employees who make use of the Library.”

At the library, states the Keweenaw National Historical Park (which now owns the library building), the company offered a careful selection of educational materials in many languages as an effort to educate and assimilate their workforce into American society.

For more information on FOL events and schedules, call 906-337-0311 Ext. 1107.