readings Reactions Week 14

Jack Goodman

We Would If We Could, But It Is Not In The Budget: Success Stories In Third Party Funding For Public Library Programs

This article gives examples of how community partnerships have funded new programs within libraries and how to implement a new such partnership in a library.

I liked the examples of successful partnerships, particularly the Babies Love Books Too partnership, as it showed how the funding for the program changed over the years from one partner, then to two others, and finally found a place in the library's budget. That just shows how when a program is seen as a necessity within a community, the funding will be there.

A good point the article makes is that librarians are traditionally often not that excited about trying new things. Thinking of the stereotypical older librarian, you would think of someone who doesn't want to use technology, but I think this stereotype has been changing in the last decade with the domination of the Internet. I think the younger generation that is now entering the field has grown up seeing how technology has created innovations, so I suspect the innovative and creative librarian described will become the new norm.

Thomas Leonhardt

Key Donor Cultivation: Building for the Future

This article talks about how essential external funding is, who donors are, how to get them to donate, and how to make them lasting donors.

While this article focused on academic libraries, many of the author's points can be applied to public libraries. Knowing past donors and establishing a relationship with them seems like a great, if obvious, idea. Using a Friends of the Library group also seems like a no-brainer to drum up support. While a public library won't have an alumni magazine, advertising in the newspaper or making pamphlets about donations available would serve the same purpose.

One thing that rubbed me the wrong way was the thought of considering current students as future financial supporters of the library. Perhaps that's because I don't like getting calls from my undergraduate institution asking for financial support. Getting students involved in helping to raise money is fine, but doing so with the intention of gaining future financial support seems shady to me. Also saying that the library director should donate enough to be in the major donor category so as to "become a supporter and a university and a library ambassador at the same time" seems a bit cynical to me.

Sara Lowman and Mary Bixby

Working With Friends Groups: Enhancing Participation Through Cultivation and Planning

This article discusses the impact of the recession on the Foundren Library at Rice University and how their friends group has helped raise funds for them.

The Goodman article talked about innovation and the Leonhardt article talked about establishing relationships with donors and a friends group, this article expands on both of those points. I would never have thought sending a friends group of donors on trips to see rare books, would be a worthwhile expense for a library, but it seems to have cemented both their interest in conserving books and commitment to the library.