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Courtesy photo The Avon Park Friends of the Library presents the South Florida State College Foundation with a $25,000 check for their new scholarship endowment. Pictured Dr. Norm Stephens (left), president, SFSC; Jane Hancock, director, Planned and Major Giving; Lucy Dirkman, Avon Park Friends of the Library scholarship committee member; Charlene Hogan, president, Avon Park Friends of the Library; Mary Beth Isaacson, librarian, Avon Park Public Library; Ann Hartsfield, chair, Avon Park Friends of the Library scholarship committee; and Don Appelquist, executive director, SFSC Foundation.

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published: Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Friends of the AP Library endow SFSC scholarship

Special to the News-Sun

AVON PARK -- In partnership with the SFCC Foundation Inc., the Friends of the Avon Park Public Library has created the Avon Park Friends of the Library Endowed Scholarship for students majoring in a liberal arts discipline, who are enrolled at South Florida State College.

The $25,000 endowed scholarship will be awarded to SFSC students and funded by interest and dividends generated from the endowment. Recipients must be enrolled at least part-time in SFSC academic degree programs. Applicants must be Florida residents and preference will be given to applicants who are residents of Avon Park and majoring in literature, creative writing, or library science. Applicants must have a grade point average (GPA) of 2.75 or better on all previous academic work.

Ann Hartsfield, Friends of the Avon Park Library scholarship committee chair, said initial starting funds for the endowment came from a small bequest left to the Friends of the Avon Park Public Library. Recently, the Friends' board decided to raise additional monies to supplement this bequest to establish the scholarship endowment for SFSC students.

"It is great that we can help students pursuing degrees in literature, creative writing, or library science," Hartsfield said.

"We are pleased to create this endowment with the SFSC Foundation and help students fund their higher education endeavors."

Friends of the Avon Park Library president Charlene Hogan said, "We are really excited because our endowment will be the first to South Florida State College."

"As South Florida State College starts granting more bachelor's degrees, area scholarships such as these for our needy and deserving students become ever more important," said Donald Appelquist, executive director of the SFCC Foundation Inc. "I am so grateful to the Friends of the Avon Park Public Library for their most generous act of creating this award. It is especially needed because it targets a few disciplines for which we do not currently have specific scholarships available."

The Avon Park Friends of the Library Endowed Scholarship will be awarded to students at SFSC beginning in the fall of 2013.

"The endowment will exist in perpetuity and will be sufficient in its early years to make two awards annually. As the corpus grows, that number will increase," Appelquist said.

For information or to apply for the scholarship, visit SFSC's Financial Aid Office or call 863-453-6661, 494-7500, 773-2252, or 465-5300, ext. 7254.