LIBRARY FOUNDATION GRANTS EXCEED $15,000

Have you researched your family tree, yet?  Compared brand quality before purchasing that last appliance, or found some exciting novels by a new author?  If not, then you’re not making full use of the Tolland Public Library’s resources yet.  During 2010, the Tolland Public Library Foundation made grants totaling $15,757 to expand the library’s resources.  Some of those funds provide the public with on-line reference tools, including Ancestry Library Edition, NoveList Plus, Consumer Reports, and Credo Reference.  All of these, except Ancestry, are also available for access from your home computer.

Foundation grants have also been used to expand library presentations.  Since its inception the Eaton-Dimock-King Authors Series has presented four outstanding authors with ties to Connecticut, writing in various genres, in discussions of their backgrounds, approach to writing and their works.

Caragh M. O’Brien, author of the popular young adult novel, Birthmarked, was the inaugural speaker in November.  In January, Lucy Anne Hurston, niece of famed Harlem Renaissance writer Zora Neale Hurston, discussed her aunt’s life and her own 2004 book, Speak, So You Can Speak Again: The Life of Zora Neale Hurston.  Just in time for March Madness, sportswriter Jeff Goldberg recounted tales from his years covering UConn women’s basketball, and his new book, Bird at the Buzzer: UConn, Notre Dame, and a Women’s Basketball Classic. The Series concluded on April 27  when Susan Schoenberger of West Hartford, discussed her debut novel, A Watershed Year.  This free series will continue in the fall and is sponsored by the library and the Foundation, and made possible through the Phoebe Dimock King and Elizabeth C. King Eaton Endowment, established in 2009.

Additional 2010 grants by the Foundation funded the purchase and licensing fee for a computer to enable library staff to prepare materials for public circulation.  A $3,000 book grant was also made to partially restore money cut from the library’s book budget.

If you would like to join our efforts to provide enhanced library services beyond what the town budget is able to provide, please consider a tax-deductible donation, gift or bequest.  Checks payable to Tolland Public Library Foundation, Inc. may be mailed to the Foundation at 21 Tolland Green, Tolland CT 06084.  We are currently recognized by the Aetna Foundation, Pratt & Whitney and UTC to receive employee matching donations.  To double the impact of your donation, please check to see if your employer will match your gift.  Then, complete the employee portion of the matching gift form and mail it to the Foundation at the address above.

The Foundation is eligible to receive donor designations through the United Way of the Capital Area.  To direct your donation (or a portion) fill in the Foundation’s name, address and designation code (AG1694) on your pledge form.  Then come to the library and enjoy the benefits of your generosity!

Updated July 14, 2011