FOML is pleased to announce the following Merit Award winners for their work in 2023. Category of Friends groups serving a population greater than 12,000: Friends of Amy Van Andel established a quarterly rotating art exhibit in the Amy Van Andel Library to diversify the cultural amenities offered by the library, to draw additional patrons to the Library and to provide a venue giving local artists public exposure of their work. They provided a detailed application laying our their plan for implementing this exhibit, including Friends, library staff and the community. Category of Friends groups serving a population less than 12,000: Friends of Huntington Ridge/Pleasant Ridge Library held a Freedom to Read Fest. The event focused on the right to read in a free society. The evening event included interactive activities, a banned books display, matching quotes to a banned book, banned books bingo, and a mugshot display to take a picture with the booking info "I read banned books." The goal was to provide awareness of book banning in Michigan libraries, The also sold Freedom to Read t-shirts which were a big hit. Both Friends group winners will be at the FOML annual meeting to present their projects. To attend register at https://foml.org/2024-annual-membership-meeting/.