Bees and butterflies are officially welcome at the Dimmick Memorial Library garden in Jim Thorpe.

Carbon County Master Gardeners presented the Friends of the Dimmick Library with a sign Thursday afternoon certifying the garden as a Penn State Extension "pollinator friendly" garden.Located behind the Friends row house at 58 Broadway, the garden is mostly made up of perennials with a rhododendron and mountain laurel sprinkled in the front.The garden grew out of an idea several years ago by Friends volunteers Karen Bushnell and Edna Brennan."A lot of hard work, blood, sweat and tears went into the garden," Bushnell said.In an effort to stop the decline of the bees and other pollinators, the Penn State Extension initiated a program certifying public and private gardens as pollinator friendly."The Friends of the Library are a very strong and active group and we are very happy to collaborate on this effort," said Nancy E. Grotevant, Penn State Extension district director. "We're hoping this leads to some type of educational programs at the garden."The Friends, she said, could offer programs on the plight of the pollinators and what individual homeowners can do to help save the bees, the butterflies and other pollinators in distress.Mari Gruber, owner of the Bear Mountain Butterfly Sanctuary in Jim Thorpe, surprised the nearly 30 people in attendance Thursday when she released two Monarch butterflies into the garden."They are a fourth generation boy and girl," said Gruber, who also has a pollinator garden. "I was so excited to see this garden built. I hope our two gardens become important dots on a network of pollinated friendly gardens across the area."According to the extension, there are several steps involved in gaining pollinator certification.They include providing food and water sources for pollinators. Native plants are around four times more attractive to pollinators than non-native plants. Penn State suggests building a birdbath or puddling area if a natural water source, such as a pond, is not available.The final two steps in creating a pollinator-friendly garden are providing good nesting sites, and removing invasive vegetation to protect native plant communities.Also on Thursday, Friends volunteer John Bushnell lifted a white sheet to unveil the location of a plaque created last year in memory of Susan Sterling, Dimmick librarian from 1998-2005 and a director from 2005-13.Sterling passed away on Aug. 25, 2013. The plaque is located above a bench on the west side of the garden.