You could see the signs for blocks along the stretch of 30th Street that leads to the Florence Library.
“Save the Florence Library.”
“Please help save the library.”
Omaha did.
The bucks rolled in Friday for Omaha Public Library services, and it looks like the Florence Library will remain open.
Library leaders weren’t sure of the exact amount raised by Friday evening but said they had raised more than enough to keep the library open and fund other library programs and initiatives.
“We’re ecstatic about how the private sector has responded,” said library board President Kevin Thompson. “It’s been a good day, in my opinion, for the city and for the Omaha Public Library.”
Donations ranging from a Millard patron’s $50 check to $75,000 from a pair of Florence natives were triggered by a challenge grant announced Thursday.
The $200,000 challenge grant, from donors who wanted to remain anonymous, was contingent upon Omahans raising an additional $100,000 by Sept. 1
With pledges that poured in early Friday, it appeared as though the goal had been reached and the operating hours, staff and programming at other library branches would not be sliced after all.
The e-mails, phone calls and messages from contributors moved Carolyn Rooker to tears.
The chief executive officer of the Omaha Public Library Foundation took a call from the two Florence natives, who also asked to be anonymous, and one told her: “I consider the Florence Library an important part of my education and who I am today.”
The news sparked a celebration in front of the library branch Friday evening. It had been planned as a community protest to keep the library open.
“This is what you call a community. You guys did it!” Sherry Grayson said as she held a bullhorn she didn’t need. “This is called self-initiating.”
Thompson said the $300,000 would be enough to keep the Florence branch from closing and to stop other cost-cutting moves, such as the layoffs of about 50 library employees citywide.
Those cuts were to take effect Sept. 6. The Florence closing was to be temporary, until the end of the year.
Thompson said that with the private donations, the library board would have enough money to reinstate Sunday hours at the main W. Dale Clark Library, the Millard branch and the Abrahams branch.
“It’s great to see somebody from the private sector willing to step up,” Thompson said of the anonymous challenge grant.
A representative of the anonymous donors said their $200,000 challenge grant was not the result of solicitations from any elected official or library organization. Rather, it was a heartfelt move by Omahans who believe libraries should be available to all citizens, in all sections of the city.
“We feel libraries are vital to the quality of life of any community,” the representative said. Thompson said he will be issuing his own challenge to Mayor Jim Suttle and the City Council.
If the library system is going to accept private dollars to retain a valued city service, Thompson will ask that city officials not seek any further library cuts in 2009 and that they adopt the library’s 2010 budget as submitted.
Mike Meyer, president of the Omaha Library Foundation, agreed. Citizens can still contribute at any library branch during operating hours.
They also can do so through www.omahapubliclibrary.org.
Another citizen movement buoyed the fundraising effort. The Florence community organized a book sale Friday that preceded the celebratory rally. Proceeds from that sale count toward the challenge grant, though totals weren’t immediately available.
Other contributions to the library fundraising effort include $10,000 from Performance Auto Group and $10,000 from First National Bank, where Thompson works.
Thompson pitched in $1,000 of his own cash, as did Suttle and his wife, Deb.
Suttle said Friday he was impressed by the level of support for public libraries, especially from the anonymous donors.
He said the 2010 budget he submitted to the City Council includes a $1 million increase in overall spending for the public library budget.
That would restore services to 2008 levels, he said, and include full-year staffing for the Saddlebrook Library.
City Councilman Pete Festersen was at the Florence book sale Friday with his daughter to buy a book of her choice — for $1,000.
Contact the writer:
444-1224, cindy.gonzalez@owh.com
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