Wednesday, Apr. 22, 2009

Cleveland ministry seeks help with library

CLEVELAND — Ron Still looks right at home standing among stacks of books at the Cleveland Library — a makeshift operation run out of a thrift store.

The Garner man volunteers 60 hours a week or so as director of the Basic Needs Ministry thrift store, the Cleveland food pantry and the new library. But he can’t do it all alone.

“We’re looking for money,” laughs Still, 62.

As Still has learned, doing good for the community isn’t always easy.

The group needs not only money but volunteers too. People drop off plenty of donations to Still’s charity on N.C. 42 West near Interstate 40. But once the donations are there — clothes, home goods, books — Still and his army of volunteers have to organize it all.

And to keep track of books, Still is putting barcodes on them. The library charged $1,600 to a credit card for the bar codes, Still said. It’s trying to recover those costs.

The library, which started lending books and movies last summer, is free for Cleveland residents. Those who live outside the community pay $10 for a library card. So far, Still said, fewer than 100 people have cards. He’s anxious to serve more.

Still, who works for the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources, loves books. When he was in the third grade in Pennsylvania, the local library burned, Still said. The books that survived the fire were then stored in his classroom, stacked on radiators.

He got hooked.

“I was a 15-book-a-week guy probably from that era through college,” Still said.

In the late 1980s, Still and his wife moved to North Carolina after he fell in love with sweet tea from a fast-food joint while visiting the Triangle.

“Man, that sweet tea was good,” Still said. “I didn’t have to put sugar in it or anything. I told my wife, ‘Let’s move here.’”

They did move, and Still got involved with Basic Needs, which opened in 2003. That year, the group started getting shelves for books to open a library. Now, the space holds about 25,000 books, Still said. He figures it’s about the size of the library in Benson.

Still knew Johnston County needed more books. Before the Cleveland library got off the ground, he said, the county had fewer than two books per person.

Now, with nine libraries across the county, the number is higher than three books per person, he said.

But the Cleveland Library is quickly running out of space. Shelves of books line the walls and are placed alongside racks of clothing throughout the warehouse-type space. Still wants to run electricity to a 320-square-foot unit outside the building, which is now home to boxes of donations.

Still wants that space to become a mini-library, complete with Internet access and a desk where people can check out books. Basic Needs, the thrift store and the library, located at 5533 N.C. 42 West, is open Saturdays from 9 a.m. till 6 p.m. and Mondays from 6 p.m. till 9 p.m. Still hopes to eventually open the library on Thursday evenings.

The library has no paid staff and depends on volunteers. John Hester of Raleigh began donating his time to the organization about a month ago.

“I just saw a need, and I’d like to help out for a while,” Hester said.

To donate time or money, call (919) 661-6565.