Year End

It was almost too much this morning. Another windy, snowy day in Wyoming. It seems like we are getting punished this month, and bad weather did interfere with our Christmas week plans. But now it's noon -- there is still lots of wind, but the sky is blue and the sun is shining. Yes, I know, I need to write more than a weather report -- and that is my intention.

I met today with the Library Foundation Board. It is a group of volunteers who have worked hard on the Endowment Challenge fund raising effort for six months. I am proud of them, and I am proud of the library staff who have diligently volunteered hours of planning, promoting, baking, donating to library efforts for this matching fund. We have raised close to $45,000 thus far. And it seems to me that is huge for a group of amateur fundraisers.

Of course, I then have to moderate my praise, because we can raise as much as $295,000 for an equal amount of matching fund. So how do I sustain that effort? How do we maintain a nice momentum over the next five years?

Never say Never. Praise, praise, praise. Thank, thank, thank. Are you bored and tired of me yet? I'm sorry. But I can't stop. It's my job. And I have been blessed to be placed among hard working, giving people. Both volunteers and co-workers. So what is the motivation? The LIBRARY of course. We see the LIBRARY
as the source of all that a community can be -- a people center, a resource center, an information center, a recreation center, an internet access, a literacy resource, and reading, reading, reading. We understand the skills and talents of the people who work here who will help the people who use the LIBRARY, not just today, but tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow. We appreciate and understand that endowment building is not for us, the people of the present, but for tomorrow's people. If you want a library tomorrow, then you take care of it today and plan for tomorrow. That is what endowment building incorporates.

As 2008 ends, we have barely begun the Endowment Challenge. I look forward to the coming year with special events, raffles, sales, programs. I look forward to working with volunteers and staff who share the LIBRARY enthusiasm and energy. And I hope you will join us in the endeavor that will help sustain your
library far beyond us.

Happy New Year -- Patty