With the daunting price tag of $909,000 hanging over the a proposed new addition, the Jacksonville Public Library Board met on June 26 to discuss potential fundraisers.Though the group knows there is a slim chance they would be able to bridge the nearly $600,000 gap between the projected cost of the project and the $315,000 in grant and matching funds already set aside, they hope to raise public support of the project.
One of their first hurdles will be in establishing a foundation or fund to make the library a 501(c)(3) entity.
“Everything goes back to setting up a 501(c)(3),” said Gary Brown, chairman of the library board. “I don’t see why we could not use some of the association funds to have the paperwork done to set up a nonprofit organization.”
The board heard from the Community Foundation of Calhoun County during its Nov. 14 meeting and is still considering the option of opening an endowment fund through them, but Brown would also like to see the library create its own foundation, a step that might ensure money was available for use in a more timely manner.
“Other organizations are raising thousands of dollars, millions of dollars. We just have to find a way,” said Adrienne Veal, one of the board members, as she recommended starting a building fund for the library and asked if it was possible to hold a reverse auction or a raffle to raise funds.
Other ideas considered at the meeting were to sell brick pavers, similar to the ones in front of the Jacksonville State University Alumni House, or brass plaques to be placed on the wall of the new annex, similar to a brass tree at Stringfellow Memorial Hospital.
