ONLINE DAY OF GIVING ESTABLISHED TO SUPPORT LOCAL LIBRARIES
Three local libraries are raising funds through an inaugural Library Giving Day campaign. This one-day online fundraising event will occur on Wednesday, April 10, 2019 and will encourage patrons and Library lovers to make a gift to participating local libraries.
This is the time of year that we usually start to hear the buzz about Valley Gives Day, an online giving event organized by the Community Foundation of Western Mass. The CFWM, however, has redirected their energies and is no longer running the one-day donation marathon. Our Libraries have been buoyed by the culture of philanthropy Valley Gives helped to create. We are thrilled to have learned of this new national effort, created by the Seattle Public Library Foundation and to apply the energy and skills learned through participation in Valley Gives to this campaign.
This national campaign for libraries is an opportunity to remember that libraries, small and large, serve as a cornerstone for our communities. A library should feel like home and the three Libraries represented in this campaign strive to make serve their communities while making them feel welcome. Beyond well-loved books, the libraries offer innovative programs that promote lifelong learning, connect patrons to technology, and advance knowledge. The M.N. Spear Memorial Library offers fitness classes and loans kayaks, the Forbes has an art gallery and loans musical instruments and in Sunderland the library is proud to offer free one-on-one technology help, and a wide variety of programs for children, teens, and adults.
The Friends of the M.N. Spear Memorial Library in Shutesbury are raising funds for a future new library project. They have been actively and creatively fundraising for a new Shutesbury Library since 2012 when efforts to secure matching funds for a Library Construction Grant were unsuccessful. Through multiple efforts including Valley Gives, Spring Spruce-Ups and support from Town Meeting, the Library now has more than $365,000 saved for a future project, about a third of the amount needed to match the previous grant.
The Friends of the M.N. Spear’s efforts are bolstered by a team of ambitious library supporters who will match donations dollar for dollar, up to $5,000.
The Forbes Library is raising funds to help create memories and learning opportunities for community members of all ages. All funds raised will support free programming including lectures, concerts, and children’s programs. The Friends of Forbes Library will match all gifts made up to $6,500.
Sunderland Public Library will be using donations received on Library Giving Day to support their Summer Reading Program for Children and Teens. The Library’s Summer Reading Program is solely sponsored by the Friends of Sunderland Public Library. The Sunderland Public Library’s Summer Reading Program provides children and teens with fun, free entertainment, a safe space to learn, explore, and express themselves, and encourages them to continue reading and learning all summer long.
Library Giving Day is an opportunity to draw attention to our local libraries and the myriad of services they provide. And it is an opportunity for the community to come together in support of the work our libraries are doing now and in the future.
For more information contact:
Mary Anne Antonellis, Director
M.N. Spear Memorial Library
https://sites.google.com/site/mnspearmemoriallibrary/
413-259-1213
library.director@shutesbury.org
10 Cooleyville Road
PO Box 256
Shutesbury, MA 01072
Lisa Downing, Director
Forbes Library
www.forbeslibrary.org
413-587-1016
ldowning@forbeslibrary.org
20 West Street
Northampton, MA 01060
Katherine Hand, Director
Sunderland Public Library
www.sunderlandpubliclibrary.org
413-665-2642
director@sunderlandpubliclibrary.org
20 School Street
Sunderland, MA 01375