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°� °n==Y °� °�� STAFF REPORT
Library and Museum Services Department
DATE: July 21, 2015
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council
FROM: Mary Beth Hayes, Director of Library & Museum Services
SUBJECT: RECEIVE GIFT OF $50,000 FROM THE FRIENDS OF THE ARCADIA
PUBLIC LIBRARY
Recommendation: Accept
SUMMARY
The Friends of the Arcadia Public Library are offering the Arcadia Public Library a
donation of $50,000 for the purchase of books and other materials and for programs for
children, teens, and adults.
DISCUSSION
All gifts to the Library over $1,000 are subject to approval by the City Council pursuant
to City Charter Section 809(d).
The Friends of the Arcadia Public Library (Friends), as part of its ongoing mission to
support the Library's goals and objectives, is donating a total of $50,000 to the Library.
Friends board members and volunteers worked six days a week to raise these funds
through their bookstore located just inside the Library's entrance.
The Friends funds provide support for the majority of the library's children's
programming, in particular the always very popular annual Children's Summer Reading
Program. In addition, Friends funds support a variety of materials and programs for
teens, including a Teen Summer Reading Program. This donation will be used for
supplies, incentives, entertainers, and books for the summer programs. Funds will also
be used to support other programs throughout the year for children, teens, and adults,
including book discussion groups for adults and public performance rights for films.
Strong demand continues for new digital resources, including eBooks. These funds will
enable the Library to purchase additional digital materials for the adult, teen, and
children's collections. Funds will also be used to purchase online databases that will be
available either in the Library or 24 hours a day, seven days a week, from remote
locations with a valid Arcadia Public Library card. Subscriptions supported with this
Accept Gift from Friends of the Arcadia Public Library
July 21, 2015
Page 2 of 2
donation include Heritage Quest, which offers access to genealogy and historic census
records, and Novelist, which provides reader's advisory information.
The funds donated by the Friends help the Library and City provide a high level of
materials and services for the citizens of Arcadia beyond the current capacity of the
City's General Fund. Without the ongoing support and financial assistance of the
Friends, the array of Library programs and services offered to Arcadians would be
diminished in quality and quantity. The children's, middle school, and teen summer
reading programs would be much less enticing and staff would be hard pressed to keep
children and teens reading all summer long so they are ready to return to school each
fall ready to read at or above grade level in reading.
This gift has been accepted by the Library Board.
FISCAL IMPACT
Receipt of these funds will provide $50,000 for materials and programs.
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended the City Council receive the gift of $50,000 from the Friends of the
Arcadia Public Library for programs and materials for the Library.
Approved,
Dominic Lazzare�t�
CI y Manager