September 2010 – WE’VE COME A LONG WAY!
Our library is open and we’ve filled it with new books and new equipment and furnishings. It’s a beautiful place with good technical equipment. We have so many wonderful foundations to thank for making this a special place
to spend time and educate ourselves.
To date, our total funding from grants for the building and construction,
furnishings, equipment and books is $729,950.
We are very grateful for all of these gifts to our library and also appreciate
the warm and supportive interactions we have had with all of these folks. We
are now working on the remaining funding we need to complete all of Phase 2
– the remaining community areas.
December 2009 - Once again the Thomas J. Long Foundation generously offered support to the
Library Commons through a second donation of $150,000. Their enthusiasm and
belief in our project and our community has been an important source of
inspiration to all of the Friends!
Fall 2009 – we received awards for new books for our new library. The County Tobacco
Settlement Committee awarded us $2,500 for books with Native American themes
for K
– 12, to support the Round Valley School District’s new “Land Curriculum”. First 5 of Mendocino awarded us $2,450 for pre-school age books.
Abundance rained down on our new Library Commons project in October, 2009.
Within 24 hours we received an anonymous foundation grant of $125,000, which
came with a promise of another $125,000 matching donation. That same day we
were notified that $30,000 was being sent from another anonymous foundation
which had previously donated to the project. These donations have given us the
funding to complete Phase 1, plus repair the exterior, which was originally
part of Phase 2. Remaining funds will be used to renovate the Commons areas and
pay off the mortgage.
In July of 2009, we were notified by Congressman Mike Thompson's office that the Friends were
awarded $100,000 under USDA Rural Development's Community Facilities Grant
Program. Because of the complexity of using federal funds for construction, we
took the recommendation of the RD staff to propose its use for furnishings and
equipment for the new library and the community room. The funds are being used
to purchase all the needed shelving, sturdy and comfortable chairs and couches
for reading areas, the large circulation desk and a variety of other
furnishings. In equipment, we are working with local professionals to select a
range of technology equipment that will facilitate on-line and local classes,
along with approximately 8 computers, including one that will be loaded with
software that will make it easy to do a variety of specialized tasks.
June 2009 – the TWANDA Foundation surprised us with a $50,000 contribution to the building project!
What a wonderful surprise!
The first grant award that the Library Commons project received was in 2007 - a
$10,000 award from the Mendocino County Tobacco Settlement Board, to help pay
off the mortgage on the building. In 2008 the Library Commons project received
significant support from two foundations. The Community Foundation of Mendocino
County awarded $5,000 for roof repair, which is the highest amount that they
fund per project. The staff of the foundation has also been very helpful and
supportive of our efforts. Next, the Thomas J. Long Foundation surprised the
Friends with a larger award than we requested, with their presentation of a
$100,000 check in early December. Along with the Community Foundation funds,
this money was used for a significant portion of the construction of the new
library that was started in May 2009.
In early 2009, another $30,000 was received for construction from a Northern
California foundation that wishes to remain anonymous. Their normal funding
focus is very different from our type of project, but they saw the need and
responded.
