EveryLibrary Helps Libraries Win Funding

We helped McCall Public Library pass a bond to fund a new building; we checked in them one year later

By Amy Rea

Library staff knew that getting city support could be challenging, and they needed help figuring out how to proceed. That’s where EveryLibrary came in. We supported McCall Public Library through consultation, technical assistance, and direct campaign funds (our donors helped us with this). We also worked with local campaign volunteers. None of these services cost Mccall a penny. In mid-2021, the bond passed on only its second try.

Recently we reached out to McCall Public Library’s Director, Meg Lojek, for updates one year after their victory. Here’s what we learned.

Plans are still moving forward. McCall is facing many of the same challenges occurring all over the country. To build the new, more extensive library, the city’s parks department needed to move, as the library needed that space. So the parks department created a new building. While that happened, changes in everything from the supply chain to labor and material shortages to inflation drastically changed the project’s scope. What started as a $7 million project rose to $10.4 million in only a year.

Library staff worried the city wouldn’t continue to back the project. However, in June 2022, the City Council met to discuss the project. The city manager and consultants put together a presentation and package of information to help the council decide whether or not to proceed. The treasurer, working under the city manager, presented a plan for how the city could go ahead with the new library and manage additional unavoidable costs. The council, in turn, voted (unanimously) to continue.

In late June, the library added a new, ADA-compliant entrance into the existing library to tide them over until the new building is ready. By fall, the city had demolished the old park facilities, and the foundations were poured for the new library. The plan is to be able to move into the new space in March 2024.

In the meantime, library staff continues to work with the Library Foundation to fundraise and apply for grants to bridge the financial gap. But the good news is they have enough funds to start the project, two years to build up the rest, and they have the city’s support.

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