Council Looks to Library Supporters for Funding Commitments

Township council is eager to , but questions remain regarding financial commitments from the board and the Friends of the Library.

Board president Glen Walton told council Tuesday the board has had conversations with roughly a hundred “movers and shakers” around town who have verbally committed to supporting—on some level—the new library.

He said the board’s internal goal is to raise no less than $500,000, with an eye on $1 million if it’s feasible.

The primary means of fundraising would come from naming rights for parts of the new library—i.e. conference rooms, computer rooms, etc.—as well as proceeds from a permanent book sale and revenue from the proposed cafe in the library.

“We’re willing and able to start this campaign,” he said. “We’re just waiting for something concrete to materialize before we go out to the public.”

The commitment of the Friends of the Library is still somewhat of a gray area however. According to a letter dated June 29, 2010, the Friends had committed a $250,000 contribution to the project “for the purchase of public furnishings” for the new library.

A letter sent to the township on April 29, 2011, reiterated that commitment, but seemed to place a caveat on it. The letter states the funds “must be used for a facility that does truly address and meets the library needs of Moorestown such as the 32,000 sq. ft. design.”

Since then, the size of the library has been greatly reduced, and in a June 14, 2012 letter to the township, the Friends of the Library were somewhat noncommittal on their level of support for the project.

“At this time … we cannot conclude that the current proposal truly addresses and meets ,” the letter reads. “This places us in the position of choosing whether to use our funds for anything other than to support programming.”

With members of council still looking for clarity, library director Joe Galbraith said they should contact Friends board president Karen Olejarz.

“She would like someone from council to reach out to her and she would lay out their position,” said Galbraith, who went on to clarify that the Friends are “not holding back” in hopes of getting back up to 32,000 square feet of space.  

Patch was unable to contact Olejarz for comment before press time.

The $13.5 million price tag attached to the latest iteration of the municipal complex project includes the cost of demolishing the existing library. However, Mayor John Button clarified that demolition should be included in the bid package as an alternate, so it can be removed if council decides not to bring down the building.