Community Foundation, Regional Library Announce The Library Fund for Literacy and Learning
New endowment established to support library programming.
By Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
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The Central Rappahannock Regional Library and the Community Foundation of the Rappahannock River Region have partnered to establish a permanent endowment to support the library’s programming.
The Library Fund for Literacy and Learning was approved in December and announced last week. This is the first time such an endowment has been set up to support the library, CRRL director Rebecca Purdy said.
The endowment is available to help offset costs related to library programming, from interactive learning materials for young children to books for young adult discussion groups to tablets to help older adults improve their digital literacy.
“It could help purchase summer reading prize books,” Purdy said. “If we’re not able to get a grant for that this year, [the endowment] would give kids a chance to own a book, which is as important as reading.”
The endowment could also help support programming developed by the library’s Teen Council.
“Sometimes, they come with incredible ideas for a class or event, and we have to reign them in because we can’t afford it,” Purdy said. “This would mean we don’t have to do that.”
And the fund could help pay for speaker fees.
“We have so many great programs planned for VA250, but some things were out of reach because we couldn’t afford them,” Purdy said. “So this will really help us enhance our programming and our reach in an easy way we hadn’t been able to do previously.”
The library, which receives funding from Stafford, Spotsylvania, and Westmoreland counties and the city of Fredericksburg, has a line item in its budget for programming, but has not been able to increase that line item for many years due to budget constraints.
“Now, instead of asking the jurisdictions to increase the programming funds, this will be a way to supplement what we get from the jurisdictions,” Purdy said.
“The Community Foundation has been a wonderful partner and has made everything very easy,” she said. “One of the advantages, too, is the Foundation has a wide reach and a great pool of donors, and that really impacts the library’s ability to get additional donations that it might not otherwise be able to get.”
You can make a 100% tax-deductible contribution to the Central Rappahannock Regional Library Fund for Literacy and Learning online, or by sending a check to The Community Foundation / PO Box 208 / Fredericksburg, VA 22404-0208.
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