Guaranty Bank Gift Completes $2.5 Million ReNew Brentwood Capital Campaign
December 30, 2016 — The ReNew Brentwood Capital Campaign to renovate the Brentwood Branch Library has exceeded its $2.5 million goal with a pledge of $15,000 from Guaranty Bank.
The campaign so far has raised $2,508,344, but the Library Foundation is still accepting gifts to cover additional costs. The Library Foundation Board of Directors and the ReNew Brentwood Steering Committee oversaw the $2.5 million campaign, raising the largest sum ever privately raised on behalf of the Library District.
“Guaranty Bank is very proud to contribute to the Brentwood Library renovation capital campaign,” said Shaun Burke, president and CEO of Guaranty Bank. “Literacy, which is the library’s mission, and financial literacy, which is the bank’s mission, are complementary issues and extremely important to the health of our community. The fact that our donation pushed the library over its campaign goal makes it even more special.”
Guaranty Bank’s donation was recognized by “topping off” the 12-foot enclosed book tower built for the branch during the Library Foundation’s three-year campaign.
Each book was added to show the progress of funds raised for the Brentwood Branch renovation project. The ceremonial final book was placed in the wood-and-glass tower on Saturday, Dec. 10, at the Brentwood Branch during a “sneak preview” celebration for campaign donors and benefactors.
At the public grand opening at 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 7, the renovated branch will be renamed the Schweitzer Brentwood Branch in honor of Springfieldian Jewell Schweitzer’s $1.2 million gift toward the campaign.
The campaign kicked off in September 2013 with a pledge of $300,000 from the Friends of the Library. The Friends pledged an additional, $200,000 matching gift when the public phase of the campaign kicked off in August 2015.
Other major donations have included:
• $300,000 from the C.W. Titus Foundation, based in Tulsa, Okla. The Titus Foundation has partnered with the Library in several of its building projects including the Library Center, Park Central Branch, Midtown Carnegie Branch and Republic Branch.
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• Over $150,000 from the O’Reilly and Wooten Family Foundations.
• Other major donors included Harry Cooper Supply; Central Bank of the Ozarks; BKD, LLP; Turner Family Foundation; the Tynes Family, Jack Stack/SRC Holdings, Inc.; Stenger Family; Jared Family; Kris & Stephen Garcia; and Barbara Benway.
“We are grateful to each and every individual, organization, foundation, group and business that has partnered with us to make this campaign a success,” said Library Foundation Director Valerie Richardson.
“From our wonderful benefactors, to the myriad events that were held, and every coin dropped in the collection box at the Brentwood Branch, it truly took a community to make possible the renovations to this much-loved neighborhood library. I am also indebted to our Campaign Co-chairs Brooke O’Reilly, Stephanie Stenger Montgomery and Lynn Tynes for their strong leadership and tireless effort in seeing this campaign through to a successful ending.”
Library administrators and Dake Wells Architecture committed to a redesign that would be resource-efficient and sustainable, with the goal of meeting LEED certification in green building. From a smarter, more energy efficient lighting, electrical and mechanical systems, to landscaping that collects and filters water onsite and outdoor lighting features that reduce pollution, the Brentwood project has helped set the pace for a greener environment in the Springfield community.
Campaign donations and pledges have exceeded the goal, totaling $2,508,344. However, because the renovation cost has exceeded $2.6 million, the foundation is continuing to reach out to the community for support. There are still opportunities for donor recognition, including naming designations for areas of the Schweitzer Brentwood Branch Library.
Some of the unique ways The Library raised money for ReNew Brentwood:
• Field Elementary School second-graders built and decorated a dog house that was raffled off in our “Raise the Woof” raffle.
• Nora Miller, an 8-year-old who lives in Rountree Neighborhood, held a lemonade stand and donated the proceeds to the Brentwood campaign.
• Staff held a “Murder in the Stacks” crime solver mystery game with a literary twist.
• Staff Denim Days, where library staff could wear their jeans on one Friday a month for a $5 donation.