How Did We Do?

We started this month with the news that the International Marketplace would be donating $2200 to the New Library Building Fund and moved very quickly into the Christmas Craft Fair where we had a table of many donated delights available to raise funds for the building.  Bev and Andy Mar contributed a $5,000 matching fund and the Craft Fair sales went a good way toward making that match.  Between those sales, the Christmas Donation Gift Cards, and the book sales at Sterling Bank, we were able to match slightly over half the Mar's donation by December 4th.  Neilsen's Christmas Tree Sales gift brought us up to $3,000.  And, then two additional thousand dollar donations made it complete by mid-month.

By Christmas day itself, the Building Fund also received an additional donation of $5,000 from an anonymous Point Roberts resident.  Merry Christmas, indeed.

Thanks to all who gave, who bought, who contributed, who thought good thoughts about this project throughout the month and who extended good wishes to the community's eventual success in raising the money that is needed.  This community is building a new library!

--Judy Ross, for The Friends of the Point Roberts Library

People Amaze Me

A guy posted on Point Interface a week or so ago looking for old license plates.  As it happened, we had just changed out a pair of license plates on one of our cars so we contacted him and he just came by today to pick them up.  I asked him what he was going to use them for and he described his work.  His name is Phillip Josephs and he sells the work at Kitty's.  And here's what it looks like:

So, we talked a little about it and he noticed a library fundraising sign on my front door and asked me if I was involved in raising money for the library.  I said yes, and then he said, "Are you Judy?"  And yes, I say.  And he says, "Oh, I've read about the fundraising for the new library on the net.  And you are doing pretty well?"  And we talk a little about how well the project is coming and how very much support the community is providing such that we are able to count well over $100,000 in actual money + pledges for 2013.

"Let me know if you are doing a silent auction, sometime.  I'll be happy to give you one of these signs I make."  Yes! says I.  Thank you! says I.  I so appreciate the support the new library is getting from all the friends and neighbors in all this almost 5 square miles.  It just amazes me how people step right up when they have the opportunity to do so.

--Judy Ross for The Friends of the Point Roberts Library

Christmas Trees for Libraries

Neilson's Hardware and Lumber kindly chose to donate $5.00 for every Christmas tree they sold to the New Library Building Fund.  This week, they sold the last of their trees and sent the building fund a check for $415.00.  And that amount was matched by our $5,000 Christmas Matching Fund, donated by Bev and Andy Mar.

We are coming along with that match (we are currently at almost $4,000 since December 1st), and we have a couple more weeks.  This week and next, you can come to the library on Tuesdays and Saturdays at 2-3 pm and Wednesdays from 12-1 and buy a beautiful LIbrary Building Fund holiday donation card.  You can give someone else the gift of a library and have both your and their name inscribed in our new Gift Donation Book.  And your gift will be eligible for an IRS charitable donation deduction and for the December match that will double its value.

Think about a year-end gift to the library: either with a gift card to someone else, or just from yourself to yourself and to all the community who will be able to enjoy a new library here in Point Roberts.  It is truly a gift that gives back to us all.  If we give, we will receive.  Happy December!

A Little More

I forgot to include three things in yesterday's post: first, the new fundraising totals: (unofficial total) $80,000.  There are also pledges for next year and though the official totals include only money that has been received, the unofficial totals are a little looser but even there I have not included the $35,000 in pledges that have been made for next year.

Second, a reminder that Neilson's Hardware is giving the library fund $5 for each Christmas tree that it sells.  (Thank you, Lorne and Kris; thank you, buyers; thank you, trees.)  And, finally, a few people have asked me whether we still have bookmarks ($10 donation), and the answer is Yes!  Talk to Rose at the library.  She has custody of them.  And not counted but still a thing: if you are on Facebook, go to our Facebook Page and 'like' it.  That's the faster update and also you could win a permanent nametag with a fine bird on it.

https://www.facebook.com/friendsofthepointrobertslibrary

A Very Full Two Weeks

Pam Sheppard's Tiny Art Auction came, was much enjoyed, went, and netted many happy bidders some tiny art and the New Library Building Fund over $700.  This whole event was Pam's idea and she and John put in a lot of work to make it happen.  It is surely occasions like this that most strike me in this fundraising activity.  The word of wisdom in all the books I've read about fundraising say that "To raise money, you have to ask people for it."  And that is generally true, but there are yet others who just hear that there is an important need and and they then just act.   They are a minority, but we are especially grateful to each of them and to Pam and John who are definitely among them.

It seemed as if no time had passed after that event until the Christmas Craft Fair.  It was a beautiful two days and we had a table laden with pieces that were donated by various artists and craftsperson here on the Point and even from a bit away.  My neighbor's mother, who is a leatherworker and who lives in Saskatchewan sent us a leather bag and a tiny pair of deer skin shoes, both of which went out into the world that weekend.  A silk scarf woven in Nepal, beautiful photo prints and jewelry, fabric goods, fiber art and knitted accessories of all kinds joined them.  The entire two days brought over $2,200 to the Library Fund. And we thank the donors, the sellers, and the buyers!

And then, another two days passed and Phyllis Van Sant (who was in charge of the counting) told us that the grocery receipt totals from the International Marketplace would bring us yet another $2,200.  To all of you who saved and dropped your receipts into the boxes, Canadian and U.S. residents alike, whoopee!  Perhaps the International Marketplace will be willing to do it again next year.

We also sold Christmas/Holiday Gift Cards at the Craft Fair so that those who want to make a "Gift of a Library" to a friend, a family member or even to themselves may do so.  The minimum gift is $25.  Each gift will be recorded in the Gift Donation Book and will name both the giver and the recipient for our permanent/historical record of how this community built a new library.  The cards will continue be on sale at the library from 2pm to 3 pm every day that the library is open until Christmas.  Or if you need to make other arrangements, write us at foprl1@gmail.com.

May the remainder of the month be filled with good times and loving experiences and not too much rich food!  It is cold and grey and windy often, but it is also the great holiday season of our year.  We should enjoy!

And thanks for all your help and support, this month and all the previous months of the year that is about to pass away from us.

--Judy Ross, for The Friends of the Point Roberts Library

Thanks to the Artists

I wanted to take a moment to thank the artists who donated their work to last week's Tiny Art Auction at Auntie Pam's country Store, an event that raised around $700 for the new library.  If it had not been for the creators' generosity, there wouldn't have been anything for the buyers to buy or for a party to be had.  So, without more ado, their names:

George Biga
Ed Buendia
D. Lind
Sigge Stromberg
Acacia
Lisa Swayne
Kitty Doyle
Audrey Hoebres
Jody Gergsma
Vyna Werner
Pam Sheppard
Jack Proctor
Tiffany Ronge
Winston Inslee
Candy Downs
Karen Pollack
Val Mayer
Sonja Picard
Nancy Poirer
Savilla Kress
Rose Momsen
Tracy Wallace
Joy Otto
John Lyons
Alexander Tersakian
Paul Griffin
Terri Zukovic
Kristen Griffen
Colleen Stromberg

I was taking these names down in a hurry before the photos went away, and I hope that I have managed it with some degree of accuracy with respect to spelling.
--Judy Ross, for The Friends of the Point Roberts Library

November, Then December

This month has seemed to rush by even faster than the months before it.  We wound up with 9 of the 10 matches made for the $5,000 Oct.-Nov. matching gift, meaning that it added $9,000 to our new library fund.  And great thanks to all those who brought their $500 matches forward, and to the five who offered a thousand each for the match.  You can all look at the "Showers of Gold" quilt at the Community Center and claim a square or half a square anyway as your own!

The International Market grocery receipts collection continues through November (and especially don't forget to put your receipt or a duplicate from the checker into the box when you are engaged in your Thanksgiving Dinner shopping).  The volunteers who are adding up all those receipt numbers--blessed be their names-- are planning to get us final numbers as fast as they can after month's end.  And more squares will need to be added to that quilt.

This Saturday night, there will be a party and silent auction of "Tiny Art" (7-9 pm) at Auntie Pam's Country Store (on Gulf) at which we can all celebrate the over $75,000 that has been raised so far for the new library, with more to come before year's end.  Pam Sheppard has engaged 35 or more local folks to produce small treasures (4x6, 5x7) for a silent auction whose proceeds will go to the new library.  They're small, but we need you all--a large crowd--there to celebrate!

Finally, or at least for this post, the Friends of the P.R. Library will have a table of  hand-made beauties of many sorts (photography, painting, glass sculpture, jewelry, quilts and quilted objects, hand-printed fabrics, knit accessories, etc.).  All the proceeds have been offered for the library and there is a $5,000 matching fund associated with it.  So you can buy and donate to the library and have your donation matched all in one swift move!

We are still looking for artists who are willing to donate a piece of their work to our table for this December 1-2 event.  A table is of limited size, however, so the work needs to be relatively small in order for us to properly display it.  If you or someone you know would be interested in making such a donation, please contact me at judywross@gmail.com.

Thanks to all of you, we've won an award!

November 3rd, Point Roberts Branch Manager, Kris Lamedico, Library Support Committee Chair, Barb Wayland and I attended the All Friends Library Gathering in Ferndale. This is an annual event including all the Friends Groups of the Whatcom County Library System. Included in the day is the ever popular potluck lunch, a key-note speaker - this year the topic was library advocacy, a report from each Friends group (my personal favorite part), and awards. This year the Point Roberts Friends of the Library won the annual award!! We were chosen because of all the work and money that this community has put forth to build a new library! The powers that be deemed our group to be inspirational! As president of the group, I must say thank you to those presenting the award to us, but mostly I must say thanks to all in the community; individuals, groups, businesses who have been so supportive in the Friends efforts to raise the half million dollars that this library needs to achieve a new space for our library of today and of the future. A big thanks to all of you.

News :: All Point Bulletin - Newspaper for Point Roberts, Washington and Delta, British Columbia

News :: All Point Bulletin - Newspaper for Point Roberts, Washington and Delta, British Columbia

October Close Out

October saw our donation totals rise to $70,000.  And that does not count any of the money that will come as a result of the grocery receipt donations.  Those numbers are being tallied and we hope the total for October will be soon available, but a first look suggests it will be in the area of $2,000 for the New Library Fund.

We also have the totals for Sterling Bank's sponsorship of "Great Change" month.  The exact total of change that the Point Roberts community brought to the bank  (or the outlying sites) and that Jane, Victoria, Heather, Julie, and Sandy sorted and counted amounts to $2,912.69!  In addition, some bags of change arrived a bit after the end of the month and that is still being counted by the fundraising group.  Only yesterday, a couple who had been out of the country and had not managed to get their change collection to the bank beforehand, showed up at my door with 35 pounds of change, half filling a canvas grocery bag.  Counting that will take awhile, but we will add it to your overall achievements for this amazing collection.  The Final final total yet to come, but clearly well over $3,000.  If you still have change or want to continue contributing change, we'll keep counting it: you can leave it in the change jars at the library, the Chevron gas station, and Auntie Pam's Country Store.

On the day before the end of October, we are still short two $500 donors for the $5,000 match gift.  Not too late, yet.  But if we do not receive them, it will be a $4,000 match gift, I'm afraid.  Whatever happens, we all send out our thanks to the eight people/couples who contributed the matching $4,000.  It swells the coffers for this project and helps more and more people to realize that this fundraising job can be achieved, even though it is a lot of money and we are a very small town.

Thanks to everyone who contributed, who counted, who cared.  It takes a community to build a library, and we have that kind of community, it is clear.

Tiny Art Auction: Nov. 17

I am calling your attention right now to a 'Tiny Art Auction' and Party at Auntie Pam's on November 17th because we need to have some more Tiny Art to auction.  About 25 people have said they will produce these small pieces (5"x7") and Pam  has more of the blank canvases if you want to join in the artist presentation side.  The photo below shows five pieces that have already been received.

Join up in the making (any media is acceptable; i'm getting a quilted one done); and/or put the auction and party on your calendar.  November 17, at Auntie Pam's Country Store. All proceeds to benefit the fundraising for the new library.

update from Pam: The time for the art show is 7pm with the auction closing at 8:45 and winners announced at 9pm. We have 35 pieces pledged and 10 already received!

--Judy Ross for The Friends of the Point Roberts Library

Registering Grocery Receipts

Here we are, beginning the second week of gathering up donated grocery receipts from the International Market.  During the first week, at least one volunteer (and sometimes as many as 3 of us) has been at the market during part of each day to explain to customers that we want their grocery receipts, why we want their grocery receipts, and how they can give us their grocery receipts.  My experience of this has been that I have about 12 seconds to get their attention as they move right on by me to the door.  If I can get them to slow down a little in that 12 seconds, I can probably get it explained.

And, because it was a very busy week (pre-Canadian Thanksgiving), there was a very steady flow of customers.  It was not hard to speak to 50 different people/couples/families in an hour.  And the register receipts began to roll in.  Over a thousand of them in the first batch that were gathered up last Friday.

We hope to continue to have at least one person at the market every day this week, too, explaining.  The hope is that after two weeks, enough people will understand it that we won't need to have this extra step.  (If you're inclined to join us in this task, write to me at judyross@outlook.com and we can work out a time slot of an hour or two.)  We've written a Letter to the Editor at the Delta Optimist in the hope that that, too, will help.  The All Point Bulletin's coverage has been great in getting it explained to Point Roberts' residents.  Lots of people say, within a couple of seconds, "Yes, I read about it in the paper."

The checkers at the International Market are doing a wonderful job of helping us by printing all those duplicate receipts that are needed for those who are going directly to the border with their groceries, and by providing information to help customers get the receipts deposited.  If you think of it when you are in the market, thank them.  We continue to be grateful for all the help we are receiving!

And soon, we hope to have the first report on amounts for the first week, as well as totals for last month's Sterling Bank Great Change month.  (If you are still longing to donate change, there's a change jar at Auntie Pam's Country Store, and another one at the Chevron gas station.  But now, the Friends' fundraising committee is going to have to do the counting.)

--Judy Ross, for The Friends of the Point Roberts Library

We Begin Again

Each month or each season brings a new challenge in the fundraising for the library world.  The next two months are the months of Great Thanksgiving(s).  We'll be eating a lot, of course, which is why we are particularly grateful to the International Market for agreeing to give us a percentage of their sales these next two months.  But this will work for the library only if you remember to drop your receipts in the boxes that are located at each of the entrance/exit doors.

Ed and I went there this morning to get posters up and posters attached to the boxes and the boxes arranged and the doorways--they're sitting atop the large trash cans there.  Then, we hung around for awhile to see how it was going to work.  One of the problems, of course, is that a lot of the customers are Canadians who are returning promptly across the border and need their receipts for Canadian customs.  Another problem is that Canadian customers are unlikely to be reading this blog or the All Point Bulletin or Point-Interface or the Friends of the Library's Facebook page, and thus don't know anything about this event, although they may know something about our plans for a new library from this past summer's events.

We've got a good solution to the first problem: If people need their receipts for any reason, ASK THE CHECKER TO GIVE YOU A DUPLICATE.  They're happy to oblige and then you can deposit a receipt and still have a receipt.

The second problem is less easy to solve.  We stayed around for about an hour and talked to people as they were leaving, trying to explain what this project is all about.  People are generous, willing to hear (although many are at first a little hesitant because they think we may be asking for a donation).  But, they are patient, as well, and of the 40 or so people we talked to, virtually all either gave us their receipts for the box or said they would ask for a duplicate next time and deposit that receipt.

We'll be at the market this Thursday, Friday, Saturday, off and on, to help people understand how this works.  And again next week if we need to.  But, it helps if you explain it to your friends, Canadians or U.S., just in case we're not there when they get to the market.

Judy Ross, for The Friends of the Point Roberts Library

Kids and Colors

This summer at the library, Rose organized a coloring contest in which anyone who wanted to could provide a color version of the black and white version of the proposed new Julius Firehall Library.  Here's what we got (and I say "we" because my 16 y/o granddaughter and I both took on the challenge along with a host of much younger children).  Rose held out a prize and the winners have now been chosen and the prizes awarded.

I did not win nor did my granddaughter, but I think the winners were chosen from that other age group.  I can only hope that the architect and contractor will be informed in their final decisions by these excellent imaginings.  We could use a little bold color in this townlet, I think.

The winners, all summer residents, are Katie Poirier, Saffron Burberry, Sophie Morson, and Emily Ramsay.  With their family's permission, their drawings will be featured on notecards that will be used to raise funds for the new Library.

Much thanks to all four and to all the other kids who joined in with this project!

Busy Week!

On Monday, Ed and I go out to collect the loose change from the 7 outlying change jars.  Then we take it to the bank for sorting and counting.  On Tuesday, I update Facebook, and this blog and, if it's the end of the month, the APB Community Page for the Friends.  On Wednesday, Jean and I write thank-you letters for gifts received last week and we check in with Louise to get the next funding pages.  On Thursday, I meet with Jean, this week to talk about recent fund-raising suggestions and offers from friends of the Library and the Library Building Fund.  On Friday, I check back with Sterling to see what the current total is ($1,085) and there are many bags and jars and boxes of coins still waiting to be counted.  Also, I communicate with the APB about having a regular column in the monthly paper, which will work if they have space, and Pat suggests putting in a regular graph to let people know how the donations are progressing.  And I write a column for the October paper, if there's room, anyway.  And on Saturday, Ed and I will work on the posters and paraphernalia for the October-November major fundraising event, which involves the International Market.

In the same time, Jean and Louise and Don have their own routines, working on different aspects of forthcoming fundraising projects, coordinating with the Whatcom County Library Foundation in regard to donations, talking to individuals about donations in the future.  And we write dozens of emails back and forth to one another to make sure we all know what's happening.  How could you even begin to do this without the internet, I think?  Telephones?  Really?

None of us has ever done serious fundraising before and we are having a crash learning course.  Every book we've read about fundraising reminds us to keep in touch with our donors, let them know what we are doing, the authors say.  That's what I'm doing right now.

And a couple of other things:  There's going to be a 'Small Art' sale on November 17 hosted by Auntie Pam at her store on Gulf Rd.  She will provide anyone who wants to participate by creating small art (any media) a small canvas (really, quite small, like 2"-3" or so) and then she'll have a party on 11/17 at her shop and they'll all be for sale with the proceeds going to the Library Building Fund.  I asked her to hold a tiny canvas for me; you might want to pick one up for you next time you're near there.

And also: Remember the new Matching Fund?  The five $1,000 gifts to be matched by ten $500 donations?  We have five matchers already!   And six more weeks left for another five to reveal themselves.  Then we will be $10,000 closer to our goal.

Keep talking to us with your ideas and thoughts about how we can do better.  We're making this library happen together!  We're at $59,000 in total donations received, and $7,000 more at least in pledges and checks on their way to us.  And also, it's not raining yet....

---Judy Ross

Last Week, This Week

Four items to report:

1.  As I hope you have heard by now, we made the $20,000 matching gift that was available in July and August: it was made by gifts large and small, which may be the best part of it in addition to our not losing any of that gift.  These donations included contributions or purchases (quilts, bookmarks, knit goods) from a few dollars to $300 at the library or the Saturday Markets or the Arts and Music Festival, contributions from sponsored events ranging from $30 to $300-$400, individual gifts of from $100-$5,000: big and little, they all got together to add up to $20,000.  Which makes the current (unofficial) total (as of Sept 1) $55,000.  That is about 11% of the journey we have to make and we are glad to be making this trip together.  I think we can look forward to $100,000 within our first year of fundraising, but it's going to take a lot of continuous work.  We know you'll be with us as we keep on keeping on.

2.  September is "Great Change Month," in which we urge everyone to take their jars, bags, piggy banks, whatever full of loose change to Sterling Bank where they will separate U.S. from Canadian coinage, count it, roll it, and permit you to donate it to the Library Building Fund.  There are subsidiary change jars here and there throughout the Point if you're not at Sterling when they're open: the Library, TSB shipping, Neilsen's, the Chandlery at the marina, Larry's Liquor Locker, Blue Heron, and Auntie Pam's Store.  When I stopped into Sterling on Monday, they said they had received many pounds of coins already, but didn't have any totals yet.  Keep them coming.  And, if you think about it, when you are at the bank, thank Jane, Heather, Julia, and Sandy for doing all this counting for the new library for us all.  My neighbor Canadians, returning home after the lovely (if short) summer, dropped off three jars for this on their way out: one filled with Canadian pennies, one filled with U.S. pennies, and one filled with mixed silver coins.  It's amazing how heavy coins become when you put them all together in a jar of some size!  And how generous people are when you put them all together in a community of even a little size!

3.  We have received a NEW Matching Gift with different terms from the last one.  Five individuals have each offered $1,000 if ten individuals/couples/families will give $500 each.  Within the first 24 hours, we received three such $500 gifts to the match:  Len Hamm, Annette Hamm, and a third couple who chose to remain anonymous.  Seven more and you will have done it.  Fortunately, we have another 6 weeks to gather in these matching gifts, but if they all come home to the new library fund, we'll then be at $66,000.  It builds fast when everyone gives what they can and sometimes even stretches a bit, as we realize some are surely doing.  If you would like to be one of these seven remaining $500 matchers, contact us at foprl1@gmail.com.  (that's fop plus r plus the letter l plus the numeral 1.)  Or get a donation card at the library and note that you want to be a matcher on it.

4.  Many people have mentioned to those of us on the fundraising committee that it would be nice if there was some way of making regular donations of smaller amounts to the project.  It won't be like receiving a bill from us each month, but if you keep track of the months as they go by, you can give to the library via the donation button here on the blog.  You can donate this way via credit card or Paypal and the donation goes directly to the Whatcom County Library Foundation, the organization that looks after the donation funds once they are received.  If you have any problem with the donation button, contact Ed Park (who made it happen) at ed_park@outlook.com.

Enjoy the beginning-of-fall days with these wonderful blue skies, and think of the new library in our future!

--Judy Ross, for Friends of the Point Roberts Library

Not a Nickel to My Name

     There is not a nickel, dime, quarter or penny to be found in our house this morning! Yesterday afternoon Curt and I cleaned out our change stashes and headed for Sterling Savings Bank. We donated all of our change to the new library fund drive - The Great Change Month. Our pockets are a lot lighter and we are feeling good that all that change is going to help create change in our community; a new library. (Thanks to the great crew at Sterling for helping with this project!)
     I hope you will join us by cleaning up your change and depositing it in one of the many jars marked for the library project at local businesses.  You have the whole month of September to do this, but why not get an early start? Both your pockets and your heart will be lighter for it!

Whatta Kid!

As regular readers know, I'm working pretty hard these days on raising funds for renovating the old Julius Firehall and thus turning it into the New Point Roberts Firehall Library.  Today, as I was closing down some activities for the summer fundraising campaign, I was given an envelope containing $31.00.

With the envelope was a note explaining that 11/year-old Jacob Clifford had gone door-to-door in Sunny Point Park on Gulf, asking people to participate in a 50-50 donation draw.  Somebody in Sunny Point got $31 and the other $31 went to the library building fund.  

I'm grateful for every dollar, every quarter that everybody has given us so far and will give us in the future.  But this summer, I have been particularly knocked out by two little girls who ran a lemonade stand to raise money for the library, and now, to Jacob Clifford who thought up and executed the 50-50 donation.

The library of course is building kids every day. The library in my home town probably did more to build me than the school system did, at least for the ten years after I learned to read.  Which is why I'm working to rebuild this library.  But to have kids working to build the library?  I'm impressed by those kids.

What can I say?   Thanks hardly seems enough, but I don't think any of these kids need a tax receipt.  And I don't even have Jacob's address.  So if you see him, if you know him, tell him thanks, from all of us.  

(cross-posted at getthewholepicture.blogspot.com)

Stop and Start!

No, that's not what a $20,000 match to a $20,000 matching fund looks like.  That's what a 30-year collection of change (and a few bills) found by Ed Park and Judy Ross on streets and roads and sidewalks and stores in two countries/two states and one province looks like.  The pig is giving it all up, starting September 2, for "Great Change Month."

Sponsored by Sterling Bank, this event places change jars all over Point Roberts (The Chandlery, the library, Auntie Pam's, Neilsen's Hardware, the Blue Heron, Larry's Liquor Store, TSB Shipping, International Marketplace, and Sterling Bank itself).  You bring your boxes, jars, banks, pocketsful, baggies, purses,  whatever, filled with U.S. or Canadian change and empty them into the jars.

The Fundraising Committee members will regularly collect the change and bring it to Sterling Bank where members of their staff will separate it, roll it, count it, and deposit it into the library fund account.  And, by September 30, "Great Change Month" will have tidied up your drawers and the like and brought us all another step closer to a new library.

So, leave your change in any of the places it is convenient for you to do so.  But if you drop it off at Sterling Bank, the pig will be there to say, "Thanks."  Do you think it looks any thinner without all those coins?

We'll update the amount of change gathered regularly here on the blog and on the APB FOPRL Community Page and on our Facebook Page: Friends of the Point Robert Library page (not group).  Help us make this a Really Great Change Month!

Dreams Can Come True. . .

Today I had lunch with a friend on the back deck at Brewsters. The shade was a bit cool, the sun was a bit warm - Autumn is in the air. I have this day dream about sitting on the back deck of the new library in the last sunny days of summer, with a new book and a latte. Libraries aren't what they used to be when I was a kid. Now they are a place to gather, to listen to speakers, to sit in a comfortable chair with a book or an iPod and enjoy a relatively quiet space. The new space will have room for all of these things. I am so looking forward to my day dream becoming a reality and I have made my donation to hurry the process along. Have you made your donation or pledge yet? It is going to take the whole community to build this library. Please take time to write your check today.  Thank you and happy reading!

FOPRL at the Market

A quick update for all of those who brought produce to the Saturday Market yesterday for the benefit of the Library Building Fund.  Heidi Baxter did a terrific job (as Theresa did two weeks ago) in taking on this task.  She spread her table with lots of herbs, flowers, chard, plums, beans, beets, potatoes, zucchini and apples (and probably some other edibles I've lost track of), let the buyers decide what was a fair donation for the library, and quickly sold out, garnering another $135.00 for the building fund.

This surely could be a repeat performance, except that August 25 was the last Saturday Market for the year.  But, maybe next year.  It is certainly the case that many people have extras from their gardens and don't necessarily have a way to spread that excess around.

Fruits of the Season

The Saturday Night movie at Brewsters attracted the largest number of viewers this summer: it couldn't have been a nicer night with the Perseid meteor shower sparkling through the night sky.  However, despite original plans, that will be the final movie of the summer.  Maybe meet you there next year?

An update on the Saturday Market:  Local produce has been a little scarce at the market this summer.  Last Saturday, Therese Bagshaw made a bold move.  She invited local residents (via Point Interface) to bring their own overflow produce to the market where she (Therese) would sell it and give the proceeds to the New Library Building Fund.

And people did indeed respond both givers and buyers: Therese gave the Fund $100 at the end of the day, largely derived from the transparent apples and plums (greengages and santa rosas) and chard that were brought and then bought, all of which appear to be abundant.  She divided the gifts into small paper bags and sold them for $2.00 each, I think.  What a good deed!

Unfortunately, she is not going to be able to repeat this at the final Saturday Market (the 25th).  So if anyone out there would like to slide into that slot, the FOPRL will be happy to do some produce-raising publicity for you.  Contact us at foprl1@gmail.com  (notice: that is a lower-case 'l' followed by the numeral 1).

Correction: August 18 is the joke-telling contest at the Community Center.  That would be Saturday night not Sunday night as I erroneously said in the last post.

We Are Getting There

Now we are at $40,000 or even more because one of the committee members brought by a thousand dollar check last night, and another thousand dollar check was delivered this morning.  And the two donations when matched--as they are--mean another four thousand dollars.

Thus, it looks like we have a very good chance of matching all the $20,000 gift by the end of the month.  A week Sunday (18th), Davea Fischer is presenting the regular joke-telling contest at the Community Center as a library benefit; there's a movie at Brewster's tonight and another in two weeks; there's another Saturday market day (25th) with quilted bookmarks and bracelets, as well as knit scarves and hats and socks.  More chances to help the new library into existence.

Everyone a Winner

Two little girls from Texas, on vacation in Point Roberts this past week, decided to set up a little lemonade stand by the side of the road.  That's not a bad idea given the number of Canadian visitors we had over the B.C. Day weekend.  Up by my house, the walkers and bicyclers and joggers and cars(!) were legion and the heat was such that a little lemonade would have been a welcome treat.

So, they provided comfort to the overheated and then, at the end of the day, they offered comfort to the fund raisers by giving their profits to the new library.  Well, no surprise, in a way: Irene Waters great-granddaughters.  Runs in the family, I guess.

Winning the TV IS...

The weekend Arts and Music Festival was pretty well attended from my perspective and I asked a few people who had been regular attenders in the past and their view was that it was better than average.  Certainly the weather for the weekend was way better than average.  It was a little too warm inland, but at the beach with a fairly steady light breeze it was the dreams of summer come true.

The Friends of the Library were there with a table and the community--summer residents, summer visitors and full-time residents--supported the library building fund with $1,500+ of donations, all of which will be matched by the $20,000 matching gift that we have going through the end of August.  We sold some of the Point Roberts Postcard Quilts, and rewarded donators with quilted bookmarks for donations, and offered raffle tickets on the big flat-screen TV.  The last was won by Ken Spencer, who is a summer P.R. resident and a full-time Vancouver resident.  Our thanks to everyone who came by and talked to us about the library, who donated or bought or took a chance on the raffle, or whatever they did to support this project that is, ultimately, for all of us.  Something new for Point Roberts; it's about time for a new library!

The matching grant: still on for 3 more weeks.  If we don't match the remaining $8,000 or so, it will go away.  Please help!

Saturday Quilts and TV Raffles

These will both take place at the Arts and Music Festival in Point Roberts on Saturday and Sunday.  Raffle tickets for the 32" flatscreen TV (HDF, all that stuff) are $10 each or 3/$25.  The in-the-box, brand new TV was donated to the Library Building Fund.

Also at the Festival, five "Somewhere in Point Roberts Postcard Quilts" donated to the Building Fund.  These are Point Roberts portraits, based upon the postcard photos by Ed Park.  Above: quilt #5.  You can see them all here.  Bring your checkbook as we don't have credit card machines.

At the Market, Yet Again

A hot, sunny market day drew a bunch of vendors and a lot of visitors to Point Roberts down to the Community Center center to the Saturday Market.  I was there talking about the new library plans and offering people a way to make donations.  (Sort of like, 'put money in this jar.')    By and large, I asked people as they came by whether they were cottagers or day visitors and most were cottagers.  Very few people I actually knew from the permanent resident crowd.  They all seemed pretty cheerful, on vacation time, kids and grandchildren in tow and happy to say good things about libraries.  But then, who really doesn't like a library?

Today, we had lots of handmade premiums to go with donations: hand-knit scarves and hats, quilted bookmarks, Point Roberts postcards, soft-and-light bracelets made from fabrics, jars of homemade jam, etc.  All made here in P.R. and donated to the library to help with fundraising.  And, we had raffle tickets for a new/in-the-box 32" flatscreen, color TV with all the latest technologies, which was given for library fundraising.  All in all, people contributed about $500 to the new building fund today, while the Friends of the LIbrary made about the same amount from its booksale.  All of which gets matched by the $20,000 matching grant (good to the end of August).

Where are we on the matching gift?  Last week, this community had raised $7,500 toward the $20,000 matching gift, and by today, that's more like $9,500, and we still have over a month to contribute the remaining $10,500.  We're pretty much on schedule with this, it seems to me.  And very grateful to all those who are contributing.

Next weekend, we'll be at the Arts and Music Festival (Lighthouse Park) with the TV raffle tickets (the drawing will be on Sunday at the end of the day).  Tickets are $10 each or 3 for $25.  And there'll be a few other things to tempt you, including some small portrait quilts of Point Roberts.  Come by, say hello, pick up a donation card, win a TV, buy a quilt: whatever...

Near End of the Month Status

W're getting close to a total of $28,000 in donations for the new library.  In July alone, the FOPRL fundraising group has raised $7,300 to apply to the $20,000 matching grant.  Another five weeks to get all that $20,000 matched.

Drop by the Saturday market, or the Saturday night movie at Brewsters this week and contribute to the cause.  Anything you donate will be doubled automatically!

Funny Moment

I was over at the library briefly today to take some books back.  Friday afternoon, around 2:30.  Four people sitting at the table with seating for four, their various electronic devices in hand.  Another person working a foot or two away from them on the public computer.  I just felt compelled to point out that they needed a new library with more room.  They looked up, as one, smiled, and nodded their heads. We were as one!

Loving the Library

I love our library, and when I think that 5 other small rural communities in Whatcom County have only a bookmobile, I am especially grateful to the people of Point Roberts who figured out we really needed to have our own library back in the forties.

When I take our campaign for an improved library to the Saturday Market, it is clear that lots of other people love our library too.  And they appreciate the desire to improve it by getting the Julius Firehall renovated.  People often say, 'That's great that it will be right next door."  Of, "I really love the idea of sitting in the patio in the summer and reading."  Or, "So nice to have more space for the children's library."  And they usually ask, next, "What will go into the library space in the Community Center when you get the new library built?"  That's up to the Park and Recreation Board, but what I most frequently hear is a historical museum.  And that is from people other than the members of the Historical Society.

Pt. Roberts, one of the oddest places I've ever been to and certainly the oddest place I've ever lived:  where else can you have a border guard selling art prints, an elderly lady selling hand-made quilted bookmarks to support the library fund, and a grocery store checker selling Avon products and nice plants, all together at the Saturday Market while dozens of Canadians and Americans, children and dogs all roam around.  With the occasional bicycle riders zooming through the crowd?

Pt. Roberts has a complex and wonderful history as well as a complex and wonderful current story.  Getting our renovated library up and running is a important part of our current story, and everyone in the community can be a part of that story.

Pick up a donation card at the library!  And remember that all donations in July and August are doubled because we have a matching grant up to $20,000.

News

It's been 11 days since we announced the beginning of the new $20,000 matching gift and thus far we have $6,000 in new funds which will be matched.  About 50 more days to find the next $14,000, so I would remind you that if you think you can contribute any amount, this would be a very good time to do it.

There's a show at the Blue Heron this month (fiber art by Joyce Wensley) which includes a very witty piece that Joyce has put on silent auction to benefit the the Library Building Fund campaign.  The final price paid by whoever wins that auction will also be included in the matching campaign, so think about joining that, as well.

And there's an outdoor movie night at Brewster's this Saturday night.  And the Friends of the P.R. Library is doing a Big Book Sale in front of the library this Saturday (10 to one) which will also benefit the building fund and involve the matching funds.    And, finally, we'll be there at the Saturday Market with donation cards and book marks and Point Roberts postcards and knit goods and excellent conversation/discussion about the new library.  A sunny day, we expect, beaming upon us all and our works!

Up to $16K

The Saturday Market individual donor contributions last weekend have joined up with the Bookmarks Fund contributions to produce another $1,000 dollars for the New Library Building Fund.  So the Showers of Gold quilt will receive two additional squares because of the Matching Gift fund.  That means we now have $16,000.  But that Matching Fund still has $19,000 dollars to be matched.  Join us and double your contributions during July and August.  Perhaps these months will be as spectacular as the fine fireworks celebration and ambitious parade that we had on the 4th.

About the bookmarks:  They are about 2"x7.5", stiff but not hard, and are one-of-a-kind.  More to the point, they are handmade, fabric, quilted bookmarks.  If you are not engaged in e-reading--where they are useless, except for their visual and tactile beautifulness--these bookmarks make books more interesting just because they are pretty beautiful.  Now, we may take this with a small grain of salt because I am the one who makes them, but still...  They're pretty beautiful.  And they feel good in your hand.

I started a few months ago with about 50 of them that a friend and library supporter took up to the B.C. Library Association Conference where, to my delight and encouragement, she sold 20 of them.  I was encouraged because, although the conference was filled with library people, they had no particular reason to support the Point Roberts Library.  So, I concluded, they liked the bookmark.

Since then, we have had the bookmarks at the P.R. Library, at The Blue Heron (thank you, Kitty!), and at the Saturday Market.  For a $10 library donation, you get a very fine bookmark.  They make super, small gifts for someone you need to give a small gift to; at least if they read regular books.  (And we hope they all do.) And it's a way to support the library on a small scale, if a larger scale is not available to you at this moment.

Four hundred dollars worth of bookmarks have now gone out into the world.  They have been replaced by others, different all of them: find the one you especially like next time you're in the library or at The Blue Heron.  And, the matching fund makes your $10 bookmark donation worth $20 to the Building Fund, regardless of where you buy it.

First Challenge

Raising money for any public project is going to involve asking people for money and maybe even from people you don't know.  For most of us, this is a pretty big challenge.  It is somewhat easier, I find, if you are giving donors something back, as public radio in the U.S. long ago discovered: a quilted bookmark, admission to a movie or lecture, a ticket on a raffle item, a premium, as these things have come to be called.  (I'd like to sail off on a discussion of why that word has risen to the top in this context, but that's probably for another time, another place.)

But the concept of the premium has always seemed a little strange because in the context of soliciting donations, what one is depending upon, what the fundraiser is appealing to is people's capacity for and willingness to act with generosity.  And if you are getting something in return, it does seem more like a commercial transaction than an act of generosity.  But I expect there is a place, in getting a job done, for many different strategies.

This Saturday, at the Saturday Market (held indoors again because of rain), I got to try a middle strategy, the Matching Challenge Gift.  In this case, a donor has agreed to match, up to $20,000, all the new money we raise for the new library  between June 30 and August 31.  That would be roughly $2,200 a week for the next nine weeks.  So, the pressure is on.

It was a frenzied day at the market because the vendors were pretty much all in the hallway of the Community Center.  That means it was noisier and thus harder to talk to people at all; that there was less space, so I didn't have all my premiums on display; and that I had to explain not only why they ought to make a donation but ought to do it now or pretty soon.

I have been impressed, each time I've been at the Saturday Market during the past weeks, with people's willingness to talk about the new library and how it will work and what it will mean for us in the community to have this kind of access to new technologies as part of going to the library.  Yesterday, I was even more impressed with their demonstration of generosity.  In barely two hours, people offered the community almost $500 toward this short-term goal, gifts ranging from a dollar to a $150.  And it clearly mattered to those donors that there was a matching fund: Those $455 dollars turned as we spoke into a total of $910 because of the generosity of the Matching Challenge donor.  Which almost gets us to another golden square on the Golden Showers Donation Quilt.

When one generous act meets and/or inspires another generous gift, it doesn't feel at all like a transaction, but instead...well, it feels like the way most of us want to feel in our days here in our community.  It feels like we are working together on a project we want for ourselves, for our families, and for the future of Point Roberts.  And that doing so is fun...and safe.

So, there is now left 8 weeks and 6 days to let your generosity meet the matching donor's generosity.  If you think you will be able to and would like to donate money to the library fund this year, this would be a very good time to do so.  If we are able to meet this challenge, by the end of August we will have $54,000.

 You can drop off your donation (U.S. or Canadian dollars) at the library's front desk.  Checks should be made out to Whatcom County Library Foundation, for the Point Roberts Library Building Fund.  If you want to mail it, instead, the Foundation's address is on the right hand column of this blog, or the P.R. Library's address is P.O. Box 970, P.R., WA 98281.  Just do it before August 31.  Please.

Big News!

The community has received significant donations for the new library project.  Two members of the FOPRL Library Fundraising Committee have recently demonstrated not only their belief in the creation of a new library but also their willingness to make a tangible commitment to that belief.  Not only 'talking the talk,' they are 'walking the walk.'  The FOPRL has recently received two donations of $5,000 each.  The first was from Jean Barrington and Curt Bush, and the second from Dorothy and Darrel Sutton.  That raises our current total donations to $14,000, which is pretty great for this early in our fund-raising career.

We look forward to finding ways to involve every member of our community in this gathering together of enough funds to begin this renovation project soon.  I'm kind of looking forward to sitting in the New library patio next summer, but I'll probably have to have a little more patience.  In any case, the community should know that all the members of the Friends' Fundraising Committee are thinking about ways to make this happen and acting upon those thoughts.  We hope you are thinking about acting, too.

Here is where we are now with those additional ten thousand-dollar funding units:  14 squares filled; only 154 more until we have achieved the first third of this funding goal.

Going to the Movies

There's a variety of ways to get money for a project like the new Point Roberts library.  There are local, state, or government funds.  There are business funds for community involvement.  There are charitable foundations/groups (the 501(c)3 tax exempt groups) who give out grants for worthwhile projects; these groups range  from very small foundations who give only small grants, to ones like the (Bill) Gates Foundation who can give enormous grants.  There are private citizens who donate anything from $5.00 to $50,000 dollars.  And there are local businesses who provide various kinds of support to local projects, ranging from giving them discounts on supplies to sponsoring special events.

These last two groups (private local donors and local business support) are very important to all the other groups because it is a way of demonstrating whether a project has local community support.  If your own residents are unwilling to give you any money, if your own local businesses are unwilling to provide some aid, why should the Bill Gates Foundation or the U.S. or Washington State government get involved?  The big donors are looking very carefully to see whether a project has local money behind it.  Locals don't have to provide all the dollars, but they have to provide some of it before the big donors will get involved.

And that's why, when Joan Roberts of Brewster's, offered to put on a series of outdoor summer movies in the yard at Brewster's, with donations to the new library being the price of admission, the Fundraising committee recognized that the offer was a very big deal.  A local business had stood up, early in the game, and said, "I want to help, and here's what I am willing to do."  Some businesses might just offer money, which is great; and others might offer to put on event, as Brewsters is doing, which is equally great.  But whatever is offered is really important, even more than the actual number of dollars involved.

THANKS to Brewsters for stepping forward.  The first movie night was 3 weeks ago, and it raised almost $400 for the Library Fund.  And that $400, along with $92 from the Parks Department's Wine and Cheese Reception a couple of weeks ago, has taken us up to $4,000 in local donations.  The second got rained out, but the next one is next Saturday night, the 30th, at dusk.  If it's not wet or cold, it's a fun evening, but bring your own chairs and a shawl/blanket, maybe.

I've put together a small quilt to track the donations as they come in, from whatever sources.  Using the idea of 500 donors at $1,000 each getting us to our half million dollar goal, the quilt has colored/decorated 2-inch square blocks, each one representing $1,000.  There will be three such quilts over time, but the first one will track the first 168 thousand-dollar worth of donations.  We've got a total of 4 of them as of last week.  And here's the quilt (which will be kept on a wall somewhere over at the Community Center and I'll post photos of it here regularly as well.  Mostly, right now, it's black flannel.  But it's got four squares, representing $4,000.  And it will have more, very soon.  Even unto 168 of them.

Quilt with 4 Squares= Four Library Fundraising Units (LFU's)=$4,000

The Country Mouse Goes to the City

I rarely leave the Point, even for Tsawwassen, but last Sunday I went to North Vancouver and unto the North Van Library.  My Gracious!  That's some library: banks of public computers for users, special glassed in rooms where people could study together (and thus talk and not bother others), other special rooms of exquisite quiet with only tiny keyboard tapping, yet more rooms with multiple love seats where a parent and child could sit and read a book together.  It was simply amazing.  Not just books and reference and checking in and out at all.

Of course, we're not the size of North Van so we're not going to be able to have all of those amenities: but we could have a little art show like they were having (which was why I was there), we could have a comfortable chair or two, we could have a special room for meetings, we could have a children's section that was big enough for both the children and their parents with maybe at least ONE love seat.  And we could have not multiple banks of public computers but more than one public computer.  And a table and chairs where you could sit with your own laptop or netbook or tablet if you are so lucky to have one.  And windows that open onto the trees that are the basic visual resource of Point Roberts (not, alas, that open onto the ocean: wrong siting for that).

At the North Van library, I was reintroduced to how wonderful a library can be just from an aesthetic viewpoint, but also what a spectacular community asset it is.  Let me tell you,  on a Sunday afternoon, almost all of those love seats were filled, those tables were occupied, those computers in use.  In North Van, they're probably wishing they had more of those things.  Here we're still wishing we had a few of those things.  But we can have them if, as a community and as individuals, we get behind this project to raise a half million to renovate the Julius Firehall.

And, incidentally, we're up to ***4*** people of those metaphoric 500 donations of $1,000 each.  More of that, however, in the next post.

At the Saturday Market

We have decided to participate in the Saturday Markets this summer as a way of talking to the community about the Library Fund-Raising Project.  This means, mostly, that I go sit at a table for 3 hours and try to corral people to talk to me about what we are doing.

I did figure out that at the very least, we need to know what people know about all this stuff by conducting some informal surveys.  Thus, at the first market, I asked as many people as I could (about 65) whether they knew that we were fund-raising for a new library, and whether they lived full- or part-time in Point Roberts or, by contrast, were day visitors.  To my surprise, 50 of the 57 residents/cottagers did know.  They might not have known about it in detail, but they knew it was underway.  Not surprisingly, none of the day visitors knew about it.

But after a few minutes conversation, all 65 people knew it, and had seen an architect's drawing of what it will look like, and knew it would be built right next door.  And some people spent more time talking about the project and a few people gave us a $10 donation and got a hand-made quilted bookmark for their generosity.  And a lot of people took away a donation card.

This week, there were fewer people at the market--the weather was really unpleasant.  But we pluckily continued our survey work, asking people about whether they knew that the library provided free Wi-Fi access 24/7 to anybody who was in the building or even in the parking lot.  Only 5 of the 25 people we talked to knew about the Wi-Fi, and 2 of them had just noticed the sign as they came into the building that minute.

I would prefer it if we had become the first wireless community in the U.S., but we didn't.  Short of that, the Library's willingness to provide us all with wireless access is my second choice of good community services.  For most of us who roam the internet casually, wi-fi access is what we have at home.  But there are lots of people who don't have that access in their homes, and when I am sitting in the hallway on Saturday Market Days, I am happy to be able to use WCLS wi-fi to connect me with the world.

Next market day, come by and see what I want to ask you!  And look at the drawing and the bookmarks and whatever else we have hustled up as donation premiums.  We always have the bookmarks (as does the Blue Heron), but this past Saturday we also had lovely and soft knit scarves and hats and charming little kids wool socks, thanks to the generosity of Eleanor Genron.

Asking People for Money

For me, probably one of the worst tasks in the world.  People, in my experience, are not particularly charitably minded.  Or, maybe they are, but they like to and have mostly already picked their charity and I and my causes are probably not it.  I remember as a Brownie, having to go door-to-door, asking people to buy Girl Scout cookies.  Many, many people said, "No, thank you."  And I might have appreciated the 'thank you,' but it was a discouraging business because it felt so personal.  As a result, I have bought Girl Scout cookies or whatever else kids were selling every time I have been asked.  And in recent years, no one has even asked.  Ah, but that's a different story.

But, I figure, if it has to be done, if I have to ask people for money, best to start with friends.  The first fund-raising for the new library came when I asked the P.R. quilt group to make and raffle some quilts to fund the renovation.  I've been a member of the quilters since almost the beginning, 15 or so years ago, back when we made the Community Quilt that is in the main hall at the Community Center.  One of the things that the group has always had a lot of fun doing was making group quilts that went to the community, so it definitely wasn't a hard ask to get them to make the four quilts they settled on.  The business of selling the tickets was a little dicier: I think we'd all had more of the Brownie Cookies experience than I expected, but we managed to carry it off by holding an event in February, The Fiber Arts Festival, where we both sold a lot of tickets and picked the quilt winners.  We had been selling tickets for several months previous to that, as well, including two very long outdoor sessions at the International Market in the winter where mostly Canadian shoppers were very generous in their ticket buying.

And, at the end of it all, The Quilt Group presented the Building fund with over $1,600.00, and that was the beginning.  Over the intervening months, up until now, we have mostly been dealing with things other than direct fund-raising.  Nevertheless, what with one thing and another, that $1600 has been joined by another $1800 worth of individual donations, and there we are with $3,400.

There is still a long road ahead.  Jean Barrington once commented that if 500 people each gave us $1,000, we would be done, would have the money we need.  I keep that in mind.  I believe there are 500 people here who would certainly be willing to give us $1,000 each, but many of them don't have a spare thousand.  But others do and I can't believe those people don't believe in libraries.  So, I think to myself, $3,400: that's the equivalent of almost 3 & 1/2 people who have given us a thousand each.  Only 496 & 1/2 people more to go.  That's the mantra.

Getting Started

After 66 years, we really need a new library space: one big enough and strong enough to provide the needs that libraries now respond to.  Seventy years ago, when I was a kid in the library, all the library provided were books on shelves, librarians to check the books in and out, a special 'Reference' section of books, and tables where you could sit and read the reference books which couldn't be checked out.  You could manage those needs for quite a few people in quite a small space.

Now, along with everything else that has been made different by the new electronic world, libraries need even more space for people to get access to all that information via computers, and you need more electricity to accommodate those computers.  Those are the two biggest practical needs that a new library will provide us: space and electricity.

In addition, the library is increasingly a source for community programs of various sorts: not only little kids reading hour programs (which they've always provided), but bigger kids programs, and adult programs of various sorts (there's even a knitting group that meets at our library).  As the schools are increasingly operating on tight budgets and reduced programs, libraries will be picking up some of those educational needs, but not without enough space to have more than two or three people at a time in a group.  (Take three friends to our children's library and ask yourself what you could do in that tight a space for more than a few minutes, for example.)

The Julius Firehall, right next door to the Community Center, is the site of the proposed new library.  It is just as convenient as the current library, but with a meeting room, lots of electricity, places to sit in the library proper with your own computer using the Library's wi-fi, more actual computers for us to use in the library.  There are schematic drawings in the current library that show you how this all will work.  It will certainly be an aesthetic improvement in every way.

The cost of renovating the building will be somewhere in the area of a half million dollars.  It is possible that we can get some substantial part of that from government or from foundations.  But to get that support, it is absolutely necessary that the community itself show substantial support by donating to the project.

We're just beginning that process, but we already have a lot of projects going and some money coming in.  Next post, I'll tell you more about both those things.  For now, you will find information about how to donate on the upper right column on this blog.  And, if you want to join the fund-raising committee  (we definitely need more help), write me (judywross at ross-park.net).

I love it!

Beautiful, isn't it? I love the design of the purposed new library - lots of windows, which means lots of light; an outdoor patio, a lounge area (and rumor has it, maybe even a fireplace)! Can't you just imagine curling up with a good book or magazine on a rainy day in this library? Ahh!
To support that dream, we are having outdoor movies this summer at Brewster's in the yard.
This week's movie is for Dad's - Indiana Jones and the Lost Crusade. It is reviewed as the best of the series. What a treat; a movie under the stars with dad - make plans now to see it Saturday, June 16th. The movie begins at dusk, admission with a donation to the library building fund. Take Dad to the Movies!!