Supporting Your Library

As I write this column, your library is preparing to hold its first signature fundraising event on April 22nd to benefit the Palm Harbor Library Endowment Foundation. Like other non-profit organizations, we too are looking for ways to raise revenue beyond our traditional means. Not surprisingly, this is primarily due to declining property values which has impacted your library over the past three years. The repercussions will be more severely felt this coming fall as we begin our new fiscal year on Oct. 1st. There will be more on that in a future column.
In the meantime, the library has developed ideas (and are looking into others) to lessen the expected financial shortfall. Here’s where you can help out:


Naming Rights


Palm Harbor Library has been developed a plan to name library areas and other physical properties. Some highlights of the new policy include:


1) Donors (individuals, corporations, etc.) may choose a major service area within the library, a meeting or conference room or a landscaped area.


2) All donors who contribute will be recognized with appropriate name signage for that underwritten area.


3) Each naming right has a life span of five years. At the end of the term, the current donor will be given first right of refusal before it is offered elsewhere.


4) Contributions may be paid over the five year period with minimum annual payments.


5) Proposals for naming rights should be submitted to the Library Director and should contain specific information in support thereof.


To date, we have been able to rename three areas. They are “The E. W. Martin Conference Room” and two “ExxonMobile Study Rooms”. To receive pricing information, just contact me directly at gene@phlib.org.




Friends Giving Tree


This long standing fundraiser is clearly seen on two walls as you walk into the library’s lobby. To purchase a “leaf”, it is $100. To purchase a “stone”, it is $1,000. It can be either as a memorial or as an honorarium. All monies support the Palm Harbor Friends of the Library which in turn support various library activities.


NAME YOUR DAY!


Palm Harbor Library has developed a new program entitled “Name Your Day”. The purpose is to celebrate an individual at the library on a particular day for a fee.


Here are some highlights of this new service:


1) The fee is $50 for one day of service.


2) The day can be any day during normal library operating hours.


3) All applications are to be submitted to the Library Director for approval.


4) Services for one day will include the following:
     - name(s) on library road sign


     - name(s) on one bookplate of book of choice


     - name(s) on all library electronic signs


     - name(s) listed on library’s website and the Library Director’s blog


     - name(s) on “Name Your Day” certificate


     - one reserved parking space




FOUNDATION BOARD


At one time all libraries used card catalogs. Well, like so many other things, they had their moment in the sun. Or did they? Instead of throwing ours away, we used the furniture piece to house material but also we took the front piece with the handle of each draw and placed it with others on a large board. For a donation of $500, you can now have a name inscribed, either as a memorial or as an honorarium on the front draw piece of your choice! Be a part of the library’s history and help with its future.


I do appreciate how your taxes support the library but indeed we will fall short this year of what you have come to expect. I ask you today to look towards your library and think how else you can support it. There are some wonderful opportunities here.