Author Archives: Christa Porter

All Nebraska public libraries are members of United for Libraries through the Statewide Group Membership purchased by the Nebraska Library Commission. The Commission provides this membership to ensure that public library staff members, Friends, Trustees, and Foundations can take advantage of United for Libraries’ services to enhance fundraising, advocacy, and public awareness.

United for Libraries’ monthly virtual series, Learning Live, will continue on Tues., Jan. 11th at 12:00 noon Mountain Time/ 1 p.m. Central Time / 2 p.m. Eastern Time with “Friends and Foundations Working Effectively with the Library.” Register here

The Learning Live program is presented free to United for Libraries group, personal, and Statewide Group Members (MA, MD, MI, NE, SC, SD, TX).

This session will provide guidance on the tools and techniques needed for effective collaboration between Friends groups, Foundation members, libraries, and library directors. Presenters will discuss the roles of each group in relation to the library and provide resources on MOUs, guidelines for giving, and other subjects.

Speakers will include Judy Hills, President of the Friends of the North Carolina Public Libraries, and Peter Pearson, Founder/Senior Consultant at Library Strategies Consulting Group and a past President of United for Libraries.

Judy Hills is the President of the Friends of the North Carolina Public Libraries (FONCPL) and Vice-President of the Friends of the New Bern-Craven County Public Library. Now retired, her first career was as a registered nurse; her second career was in commercial real estate; and her third career was in nonprofit and quasi-governmental organizations (similar to regional library systems).  At the end of her career, she was the Executive Director of a nine-county planning organization. She helped secure many millions of dollars in federal, state, and other grants, and continues to provide grant opportunity information to the nonprofit community. 

Peter Pearson is lead consultant and co-founder of Library Strategies Consulting Group. He was president of the Friends of the Saint Paul (Minn.) Public Library for 25 years, and was a founder of Library Strategies. As president of the Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library, he led three capital campaigns and coordinated an annual grassroots advocacy campaign that added millions of dollars of public funding to the library’s budget. He also served as a Trustee for the Twin Cities Regional Library System for 10 years.

United for Libraries Learning Live sessions take place on the fourth Tuesday of each month at 12:00 noon Mountain Time/ 1 p.m. Central Time / 2 p.m. Eastern Time. Each month’s session will cover a hot topic of interest to Trustees, Friends and/or Foundations, followed by a Q&A and/or discussions. Sessions are open to all personal and group members of United for Libraries.

United for Libraries: The Association of Library Trustees, Advocates, Friends and Foundations, is a division of the American Library Association with approximately 4,000 personal and group members representing hundreds of thousands of library supporters. United for Libraries supports those who govern, promote, advocate, and fundraise for libraries, and brings together library trustees, advocates, friends, and foundations into a partnership that creates a powerful force for libraries in the 21st century. For more information, visit www.ala.org/united/ or call 312-280-2160.

All Nebraska public libraries are members of United for Libraries through the Statewide Group Membership purchased by the Nebraska Library Commission. The Commission provides this membership to ensure that public library staff members, Friends, Trustees, and Foundations can take advantage of United for Libraries’ services to enhance fundraising, advocacy, and public awareness.

United for Libraries’ monthly virtual series, Learning Live, will continue on Tues., Dec. 14 at 12:00 noon Mountain/ 1 p.m. Central/ 2 p.m. Eastern. The Learning Live program is presented free to United for Libraries members and those with all-access statewide training.

To register for the December Learning Live session, click here.

According to a recent article in American Libraries (“A Conflict of Values,” Nov. 1), “Public libraries are facing a wave of trustee candidates whose goals challenge intellectual freedom, community service, and other core values of librarianship.” How can you protect your library and board from finding itself in a position where a board member’s ideologies oppose core library tenets? This session will focus on preparedness strategies, community building, and how to create strong policies that address programming, budgeting, and services.

Speakers will include Megan Cusick of ALA’s Public Policy & Advocacy Office, Deborah Caldwell-Stone of the ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom, Deborah Doyle of the Sonoma County Library Commission, and Beth Nawalinski of United for Libraries.

Megan Cusick is the Deputy Director for State Advocacy in ALA’s Public Policy and Advocacy office. She coordinates ALA’s state and local advocacy efforts in partnership with ALA offices and divisions; state chapters and affiliates; and librarians, library staff, and advocates across the country. Prior to joining ALA, Megan was a librarian in Chicago Public Schools and the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center; she is a co-founder of the Chicago Teachers Union librarians committee. She has presented and published on topics such as partnerships, library trends, civic engagement, intellectual freedom, and advocacy.

Deborah Caldwell-Stone is Director of ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom and Executive Director of the Freedom to Read Foundation. She is a recovering attorney and former appellate litigator who works closely with library professionals and library trustees on a wide range of intellectual freedom issues. She advises ALA’s Intellectual Freedom Committee and its Privacy Subcommittee on law and policy issues, and has served on the faculty of the ALA-sponsored Lawyers for Libraries and Law for Librarians workshops.  She is a contributor to the 10th edition of the Intellectual Freedom Manual and has contributed articles on law, policy, and intellectual freedom to American Libraries and other publications.

Deborah Doyle is a writer, editor and fundraiser as well as an active library advocate at local, state and national levels. She played board and staff roles at Friends of the San Francisco PL and was actively involved in helping to create SF’s well-funded modern library system. She has served as President of the California Library Association and is the only person to receive CLA’s President’s Award twice— the highest honor given to an individual for significant contributions to libraries. She currently sits on the United for Libraries board, the ALA Committee on Legislation, the CLA Advocacy and Legislative Committee and chairs the Sonoma County Library Commission. Deborah holds a BA from University of Virginia (high honors) and an Executive MLIS from San Jose State University.

Beth Nawalinski is the Executive Director for United for Libraries. She has pursued a 25+ year career supporting libraries and literacy, first as Community Relations Coordinator with Barnes & Noble, followed by Public Relations Specialist with the Norfolk (Va.) Public Library, Marketing & Public Relations Coordinator with Friends of Libraries U.S.A. (FOLUSA), and Director of Marketing & Communications for United for Libraries. She is the co-author of 101+ Great Ideas for Libraries and Friends and Even More Great Ideas for Libraries and Friends.

United for Libraries Learning Live sessions take place on the fourth Tuesday of each month at 12:00 noon Mountain Time/ 1 p.m. Central Time / 2 p.m. Eastern Time. Each month’s session will cover a hot topic of interest to Trustees, Friends and/or Foundations, followed by a Q&A and/or discussions. Sessions are open to all personal and group members of United for Libraries.

United for Libraries: The Association of Library Trustees, Advocates, Friends and Foundations, is a division of the American Library Association with approximately 4,000 personal and group members representing hundreds of thousands of library supporters. United for Libraries supports those who govern, promote, advocate, and fundraise for libraries, and brings together library trustees, advocates, friends, and foundations into a partnership that creates a powerful force for libraries in the 21st century. For more information, visit www.ala.org/united/ or call 312-280-2160.

All Nebraska public libraries are members of United for Libraries through the Statewide Group Membership purchased by the Nebraska Library Commission. The Commission provides this membership to ensure that public library staff members, Friends, Trustees, and Foundations can take advantage of United for Libraries’ services to enhance fundraising, advocacy, and public awareness.

United for Libraries’ monthly virtual series, Learning Live, will continue with “Virtual and Hybrid Fundraising” Tues., Nov. 9 at 2 p.m. Eastern. The Learning Live program is presented free to United for Libraries  members and those with statewide training access.

Learn about virtual and hybrid fundraising through examples of successful campaigns across the country. Presenters Reed Davaz McGowan (Eugene [Ore.] Public Library Foundation) and Kerry Barnes (Tomkins County [N.Y.] Public Library Foundation) will walk attendees through the planning processes of their respective campaigns, including Eugene Public Library Foundation’s Imagination Library Luncheon and Tomkins County Public Library Foundation’s 2021 Readathon and “Hold On, Let Me Ask a Librarian” program. A Q&A session will follow the presentation. Register for “Virtual and Hybrid Fundraising”

Reed Davaz McGowan is the executive director of Eugene Public Library Foundation. As an executive director of organizations in San Francisco and Philadelphia, she focused on increasing access to and funding for innovative arts, leadership development, and educational programming for underserved and often marginalized youth and communities.

Kerry A. Barnes serves as the assistant director for the Tompkins County Public Library Foundation. An avid swimmer, aspiring novelist, voracious reader, and intermediate knitter, she has more than 20 years’ experience fundraising for nonprofit organizations.

Eugene Public Library Foundation’s Imagination Library Luncheon Over the past 18 months, Eugene Public Library Foundation has been meeting the challenges faced by raising funds and stewarding donors during the pandemic. In the wake of canceling its annual gala for 2020 (and then 2021), the Foundation transitioned to online events and fundraising drives as well as increased virtual programming and outreach through a lot of experimentation and pivoting. In partnership with the Friends of Eugene Public Library, the Foundation raised funds for WiFi hotspots, which have emerged as an urgent community need. Additionally, the Foundation has virtually hosted two fundraising “luncheons” with different models, quarterly trivia nights, and a monthly lecture series. The virtual luncheons exceeded net revenue expectations and even out-performed the previous in-person luncheons to date.

Tompkins County Public Library Foundation’s Readathon started in 2013 as a 24-hour reading challenge and has evolved into an all-day signature fundraising event. In 2020, the Readathon had to pivot to a virtual format at almost the last minute, due to New York State’s shutdown response to the pandemic.  A virtual format was necessary for the 2021 Readathon as well, but allowed the Foundation to realize a new set of opportunities that will be part of the event in years to come, regardless of the state of world health. Kerry will share lessons learned (from being both an event organizer and participant), advice for making the most of peer-to-peer fundraising events, and how to help your biggest library lovers become library supporters.

Hold On, Let Me Ask a Librarian Based on a board member’s observation that the best Zoom events were a lot like old-time radio programs, they created their own version of NPR’s quiz show, Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me, titled Hold On, Let Me Ask a Librarian. Featuring a panel of local notables answering questions about TCPL while the audience played along at home online, the event broke new ground for virtual fundraising programming and actively engaging an audience more than a little tired of staring at a screen. Kerry will share what went into creating the event, what challenges the Foundation faced, and what they might do differently the next time around.

United for Libraries Learning Live sessions take place on the fourth Tuesday of each month at 2 p.m. Eastern Time. Each month’s session will cover a hot topic of interest to Trustees, Friends and/or Foundations, followed by a Q&A and/or discussions. Sessions are open to all personal and group members of United for Libraries.

United for Libraries: The Association of Library Trustees, Advocates, Friends and Foundations, is a division of the American Library Association with approximately 4,000 personal and group members representing hundreds of thousands of library supporters. United for Libraries supports those who govern, promote, advocate, and fundraise for libraries, and brings together library trustees, advocates, friends, and foundations into a partnership that creates a powerful force for libraries in the 21st century. For more information, visit www.ala.org/united/ or call 312-280-2160.