Overview of Alamogordo Public Library Foundation, Inc.


Alamogordo Public Library Foundation, Inc. (APL Foundation), founded in 2004 to raise funds for the Alamogordo Public Library , was created as part of the campaign to get a new library building in Alamogordo. The Foundation raises money both for the new building and for general library purposes. The City of Alamogordo budgets about $750,000 each year for operating the library, but usually does not provide any funds for capital improvements.

Legal status: APL Foundation was:

  • incorporated as a New Mexico nonprofit corporation, May 3, 2004
  • registered as a charity with the New Mexico Attorney General on August 25, 2004
  • granted 501(c)(3) public charity status by the IRS, October 27, 2004 (retroactive to May 3, 2004)

Tax numbers:

  • our New Mexico State Corporation Number is 2459923
  • our EIN (Federal tax number) is 20-1283200
  • our CRS ID (New Mexico tax number) is 03-052957-00-3

Governance and Activities

The APL Foundation is an independent corporation, as is the Alamogordo Public Library Board.


APL Foundation's primary activities to date are:

  • adding to the Board and committees
  • continuing to provide the ability to accept donations from residents and other sources. 
  • continuing applying for funding grants (APL Foundation wrote the proposal for a $1 million state grant awarded to City of Alamogordo)
  • supporting non-budgeted needs of current library.
  • overseeing building funds currently invested/dedicated.
  • operating book store @ the white sands mall.

Affiliations:

 

Why Give To The Alamogordo Public Library Foundation?

The Alamogordo Public Library is a tax-supported institution, but it is not supported as well as it could be. Private giving can make the difference between an adequate and a great community resource.

Our library is funded year-to-year by the City of Alamogordo (with some contributions by county and state government). There is no long-term funding, nor is the annual funding guaranteed. The annual funding provides for operating expenses, salaries, and some new books. Generally speaking there is no government funding for capital projects, new equipment, improvements, or even new bookshelves.

Some city facilities are able to raise operating funds through user fees. For example, the Recreation Center charges user fees, and the golf course charges membership fees and greens fees. Raising money through user fees is really not a possibility for public libraries. The United States has a long tradition of free public libraries, going back at least to 1850. Library services are provided without user fees so that they can reach everyone. The Alamogordo Public Library keeps to that tradition.  

Libraries are not just big warehouses full of books. Libraries today are gathering places, and are a public place where people feel safe. People of all different backgrounds and ages come together in public libraries and do not feel threatened by each other. In particular it is a place where teenagers go to study and meet their friends. Teens are heavy library users but tend to be undercounted in library statistics because they don't check out many books. Children feel safe in the library, and parents feel safe letting their children go to the library because they know there is adult supervision and there are always lots of people in the library.

A 2003 study by Fordham University ranks New Mexico last among all 50 states in overall social health. This rating covers a wide variety of factors, including the murder rate, low high-school graduation rates (that is, many dropouts), drunken driving deaths, teenage drug abuse, percentage of children living in poverty, and many more. Many of these factors are related. For example, the high dropout rate means there is a shortage of highly-educated workers, which makes it hard to attract high-paying jobs to the State, and so keeps the poverty rate high. Public libraries certainly cannot fix all these problems by themselves, but they help with education and keeping teens and young adults interested in reading and in learning.


Where We Are Going

A 2005 workshop of Alamogordo library customers revealed the following needs and wants:

Needs

  • bigger building
  • more bookshelves
  • more library programs and better success reaching the community outside the library; reaching all age groups and economic levels
  • new heating and air-conditioning system (current system is inadequate)
  • more staff to serve the ever-increasing number of library customers
  • more materials and resources, including multimedia materials such as videos, DVDs, music CDs

Wants

  • youth room and youth activities
  • more library programs, more arts, more computers
  • display shelves to feature new acquisitions, like bookstores and CD stores do
  • stronger, more comfy chairs
  • carrels and quiet study rooms
  • smart RFID for self-checkout of items (saves staff time)
  • A media laboratory where people could view video, do distance learning, participate in teleconferences, and even make their own multimedia. The cost of this technology has come down tremendously in recent years, but is still beyond the means of most individuals

Many of these things we can do today and squeeze into the current building, although the really significant improvements require more space than we have.

Over the next few years APL Foundation will fund as many of these improvements as it can.

What's Our Plan?

The APL Foundation is raising money for capital improvements in the library in two areas: (1) near-term equipment needs such as bookshelves and computers; (2) a long-term plan to build a new, larger library building.

In the past the library received annual capital outlay money from the city budget to buy equipment, but for the past several years there has been no capital money. Funding for new equipment has also been provided by special-purpose grants, such as from the Gates Foundation for new computers, from New Mexico State Library for a new printer in the audio-visual area, and from Public Service Company of New Mexico for a computer.

In the longer term the library must have a larger building. The present building is already too small to hold everything necessary to serve the community. Based on population projections put out by the University of New Mexico and library estimation methods put out by the state of Wisconsin, we estimate that by the year 2020 we will need 40,000 square feet of library space. Today we have only about 20,000 square feet.

In 2001 the block west of the current building, formerly the location of the IGA grocery store, was donated to the city for the express purpose of placing a 40,000 square foot library on the site.

In 2002 the cost of the new building on the site (not counting the land) was estimated at $6.1 million. The value of the land was estimated at $1.2 million. Alamogordo voters rejected the idea of a new library building, as it would have resulted in increased property taxes. Additional efforts also failed.

Are There Other Sources Of Funding?

In the United States nearly all public library funding is local. Each year the Alamogordo Public Library receives about $700,000 from the city government, $40,000 from the county government, and a small amount from the state government. This budget covers operating expenses, maintenance, and books, but does not provide for new equipment or capital improvements.

There has been a temporary but important increase in state funding. In 2002 and 2004 the voters passed statewide General Obligation (GO) bonds to provide state money for library materials. These bonds cover books and some library equipment. The wireless internet (WiFi) system that was installed in 2005 was paid by the 2002 state GO bond. The upgraded online catalog (Dynix Horizon) that was installed in 2004 was paid partly by the 2002 state GO bond and partly by reallocating money from the annual budget. The state GO bonds were introduced in recognition of the fact that New Mexico libraries don't hold enough items in their collections. This source of funding won't last forever, but while it lasts we have an adequate book budget. Money from the 2004 state GO Bond has to be spent in 2005 and 2006.

Can We Get Money From Big Corporations?

The annual Giving USA survey from the American Association of Fund-Raising Counsel shows that nearly all charitable giving in the US comes from individuals, so our emphasis has to be on individuals. According to the survey about 85% of money donated comes from individuals, 10% comes from foundations, and 5% comes from corporations.

There are a number of charitable foundations that make grants for libraries, including grants for new library buildings, and we are pursuing these. Many of these are challenge grants or matching grants, where the local community must come up with some money first and then the foundation will pitch in. This makes it possible to multiply whatever gifts APL Foundation is able to attract from individuals.

 

                                                                                            Photos Courtesy of Elise Haley

 
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