I want to let you know about a major decision that was made at last night's South Benton Library Project meeting here in Monroe. Many of you didn't make it to the meeting but have expressed an interest in what has been happening concerning the new library building. We are moving into an active stage in our building project development and it's an exciting time. It's because of this that I cannot stress enough how the presence of each one of you at our meetings and the effort you make works for the good of everyone involved. What we are doing this very minute will benefit many generations to come.
At the meeting last night, we met Courtney Rader. She is the Volunteer Coordinator for the Corvallis Benton County Public Library but she also has her own consulting business. She has many years of experience doing fund raising for nonprofits and has been involved with capital campaigns as well. She has given us a proposal to accomplish the fund raising strategizing part of building our new library. She wrote it giving us an opportunity to spend as little or much as we feel we can afford by bidding it on an hourly basis with an initial retainer. She would also do it for a flat fee if we prefer. After much discussion on the subject of hiring Courtney, a motion was made, seconded, voted on and passed to retain her services as a Fundraising consultant for SBLP. Courtney brings a great amount of enthusiasm to our team and feels like raising 2 million dollars is very doable. She stressed that it will be hard work, but we will have a beautiful library built for our efforts. I listened carefully to her proposal and liked what I heard. I believe she will bring valuable assistance and direction to South Benton Library Project. I have attached her proposal with this email. Please feel free to let me know what you think. In the near future we are going to need some major team players who are willing to give of their time and effort to bring our new beautiful library building into reality. I know you are all committed to your library. I see it in your eyes when you come in to browse and check out your books. You all are on the front line of knowing how much we really need a bigger place to accommodate our growing community.
In a few days, I will post the minutes to last night's meeting on the blog. Again, this is no substitute for your actual presence there at a meeting, but will give you a flavor of what we do each month. I encourage you again, to attend next month's meeting on Oct. 13th at the Fire Hall. I do know that some of you may have conflicts and are unable to attend meetings. PLEASE call me so we can discuss how you might be able to help without coming to these particular monthly meetings. As we learn more about the nuts and bolts of fundraising I know we can find a way for you to help make this new building a reality.
Sincerely,
Lori Pelkey
Monroe Community Library
541-847-5174
