Case Statement
The Tulare Library Foundation is an independent, non-profit organization promoting private donations to enrich and support the Tulare Public Library's resources, facilities and services. The primary focus of the foundation, at least initially, is to undertake a capital campaign to raise money from within our community to help construct a new library.
Our current library is very small for a growing community like Tulare. The
main part of our library was built in 1962, when Tulare had a population of
less than 15,000. Our current population is fast approaching 50,000, with a
projection of over 60,000 by the year 2010. We currently operate in a facility
that is vastly undersized, particularly in the area of youth services and modern
technology.
While local government support for our library reflects the high value our community
places on Tulare Public Library's services, all traditional public funding
sources in California continue to be challenged. Private gifts and donations
can make the critical difference when it comes to maintaining a tradition of
outstanding facilities, collections and services.
The Foundation, working with the City Council and the Library Advisory Board, has set a goal to raise $500,000 over the next five years to help finance a new 24,000 square foot library facility. This new library will be centrally located and easy to access by automobile and mass transit. Our new site is located on the Tulare Santa Fe Trail, which will facilitate easy access by those who choose to bicycle or walk to the library. The new site, at the corner of Cross and "M" Street, gives us a good opportunity to secure competitive grant funding from the State whereby they will pay for 65% of the costs to purchase the property, improve the site, build a new library and then furnish it with the latest technology. The City has committed over 2 million dollars to date, and we need help from our community members to reach our portion of the match so we can bring over 5 million dollars of State funds to Tulare.
It has been said that one important measurement of a community's overall quality of life can be judged by the quality of its public library. The Tulare Library Foundation is dedicated to the ideal of providing quality library services to everyone who lives in Tulare.