The Thomson Gale Financial Development Award

Contact:
Cheryl Malden
Program Officer
Goverance
312-280-3247
For Immediate Release
April 25, 2006

The Thomson Gale Financial Development Award recipient named

CHICAGO - The Arley Public Library, Arley, Ala. is the 2006 recipient of the Thomas Gale Financial Development Award presented by the American Library Association (ALA).

The award, $2,500 and a citation donated by Thomson Gale, is presented annually to a library organization that exhibited meritorious achievement in carrying out a library financial development project to secure new funding resources for a public or academic library.

For 30 years, Arley, Ala., with a population of less than 300, only had the Arley Library, which was housed in a portable trailer with no running water.
There was little space for additional books, to do research, or for library programs.

In 2003, the Arley Town Council appointed a library authority board with one major goal: to raise the money to oversee the construction of a new library.
For almost two years the board raised money through various means involving the community whenever possible.
Construction of the 2,400 sq ft library began in March 2005 and the library opened in December 4, 2005.

"The $140,000 raised through a fundraising outlay of under $5,000 speaks volumes about the hard work of the library authority board appointed exclusively for this cause and the commitment of the library staff and local community," said Jury Chair George Paganelis of California State University, Sacramento Library. "For a town of fewer than 300 residents, their collective effort was indeed a triumph."

Other members of the Thomson Gale Award Jury are Faye C. Backie, Michigan State University Libraries; Jane E. Conway, Highland Park (Ill.) Public Library; Carol Lynn Schuetz, Baylor (Texas) University; and Marilyn P. Whitmore, Pittsburgh.

The 2006 Thomson Gale Financial Development Award will be presented at the ALA Award Ceremony and Reception, Tuesday, June 27, during the ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans.

The deadline for submissions of applications for the 2007 Thomson Gale Financial Development Award is December 1, 2006. Guidelines and application forms are available on the ALA Web site at
http://www.ala.org/ala/awardsbucket/galegroupaward/galegroupaward.htm.