Cedar Falls Community Foundation Grants $79,800 to Library
July 27, 2015
Cedar Falls Community Foundation Awards $79,800 to Library
The Cedar Falls Community Foundation has approved five grants totaling $79,800 to the Cedar Falls Public Library in July. The grants will be used to bring in a visiting author, provide a bus trip, and improve the library building.
A grant from the Kathryn L. Ray Fund for the benefit of the Cedar Falls Public Library will be used to bring Pulitzer Prize winning author Bill Dedman to Cedar Falls in September. Dedman is the author of Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Hugette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune, a New York Times best seller. Dedman will present on September 17th at the Cedar Falls Public Library.
Cynthia Sweet, Executive Director of the Cedar Falls Community Foundation, said, “Bill Dedman’s visiting author presentation is timely and should prove very interesting. Like many others, I have followed the story of Hugette Clark in the news over the past few years and find it both sad and fascinating. The Library has added multiple copies of Dedman’s book to the collection to serve all those wishing to read the story before his September visit.”
Two grants were made from the Robert and Shirley Berg Fund for the benefit of the Cedar Falls Public Library. One grant will enable the library to take its program “on the road” to visit the Decorah Seed Savers’ Exchange. The Exchange’s mission includes conserving and promoting Americans’ culturally diverse garden and food crop through heritage seeds. In addition to the educational opportunity of visiting the gardens, visitors’ center, orchard, and livestock on this 890 acre farm, Exchange staff will share their knowledge with the bus group.
The second grant will allow the Library to replace the projectors and monitors in their meeting and conference rooms with up-to-date equipment. Sheryl McGovern, Cedar Falls Public Library Director, said, “The current equipment is seven years old and had had a lot of use. However current needs such as high-definition video, blu-rays, and more, will be enhanced with updated equipment.”
Two grants were made from the Cedar Falls Public Library Building Fund. These grants, totaling $58,100, will allow the Library to install an Integrated Library System to manage the information needed for a catalog, a circulation system, and an acquisitions system and to replace atrium furniture. McGovern noted that, “The current Library system is 16 years old. All of the libraries in the Cedar Valley Library Consortium, of which Cedar Falls Public Library is a member, are migrating to new generation systems. These new systems offer features more in tune with current user expectations and needs.”
With regard to the atrium furniture, McGovern went on to say, “The Cedar Falls Public Library serves 250,000 visitors each year. We strive to provide a comfortable, inviting environment. The atrium is frequented by patrons who stop by for lunch, a bright place to read, to meet others, or to wait for a ride. New furniture is needed to keep this much used space looking its best and providing what our patrons expect from the space.”
The Cedar Falls Community Foundation, established in 1977, and with funds totaling over $5.5 million, accepts a variety of assets to facilitate personal charitable objectives and investment in the causes individuals care about, with both short and long term goals. For more information about the Cedar Falls Community Foundation, visit www.cf-communityfoundation.org, e-mail cfcf@cfu.net, or telephone 319-243-9170.
