By Stephen Smoot
“As far as any of us know, I think it is the first time that the Friends of the Library has applied.” Rhonda Nash, president of the Friends of the Library, shared that the organization had made its first foray this year into the world of grant writing.
And their efforts paid off.
The Friends of the Pendleton County Library received support from a nationwide foundation that operates “a grant program serving rural and small libraries across the country,” as a release stated.
During National Library Week earlier this month, 51 libraries received grant awards of either $1,000 or $500. Friends of the Pendleton County Library was awarded the larger amount.
As the release explains, “grant funds will assist Friends of Library groups, or non profit groups that support libraries in their communities.” Groups such as the local Friends of the Library run enrichment programs for the community, such as summer reading programs for youth, outreach to seniors, bookmobile funds, technology upgrades, and more.
In Pendleton County, the Friends of the Library always seeks to run programs that bring different people into the facility for different reasons. The most popular include the summer youth reading programs and the History Alive presentations that bring in re-enactors to portray historical and/or cultural figures of importance.
As part of the grant, and in addition to the $1,000 cash award, the library receives a year of complimentary access to in-depth training for Friends of the Library board members, including “how to leverage the funds to build support for the library and the Friends group.”
Other trainings include instruction on library oriented “grant funding basics” to help develop application skills.
Nash explained that the organization had a pragmatic view of its chances of earning an award. “If we got it, great,” she remembered, “if not, we learned a little bit about how to do it.”
She also gave full credit to those whose hard work made it possible. “All accolades to the ad hoc committee,” said Nash, who then shared that Boyd Lucas, Jayne Germain, and Becky Puffenbarger worked with a consultant named Marchelle Dickerson.
“She’s a good writer and she has a lot of experience,” explained Nash.
Deborah Doyle, President of United for Libraries, stated that “these grants will empower rural and small libraries throughout the country to make a big impact locally, and to access United for Libraries resources on advocacy and fundraising to continue to support their libraries at this critical time.”
“Small and rural libraries in particular are essential to their communities,” noted Skip Dye, vice president of Library Sales and Digital Strategy at Penguin Random House. He added that “we are thankful to have the opportunity to provide them with this meaningful support.”
Nash explained that with both the State of West Virginia and the federal government trying to tackle budget concerns, “this couldn’t come at a better time.”
Grant funds will be used to address technology needs.
The Friends of the Library for Pendleton County received the only grant awarded in the Mountain State.
“We were just thrilled,” shared Nash.
