Fayetteville Public Library Earns National Award

"Library Named 2005 “Library of the Year”

FAYETTEVILLE , AR , June 13, 2005 – Capping off an extraordinary year of accomplishment, the Fayetteville Public Library has earned one of the industry's highest honors – winning the 2005 Thomson Gale/ Library Journal Library of the Year award. The surprise announcement was made today at the library during a special ceremony attended by community officials, civic leaders, library staff, board members, volunteers and supporters.

Mayor Dan Coody, library board chairman Louis Gottsponer and Arkansas state librarian Jack Mulkey were among those publicly congratulating Louise Schaper , library executive director , and her staff on the prestigious national award. Mulkey, who traveled from Little Rock for the occasion, read a proclamation from the governor regarding the honor. Schaper and Gottsponer also unveiled the cover of the June 15 issue of Library Journal , which features the Fayetteville Public Library and a lengthy feature article about the library's seven-year journey to build a world-class library in terms of both collection and facilities. The full text of the Library Journal article “Five Steps to Excellence” will be available via the Internet at www.libraryjournal.com on Wednesday.

As the 2005 Library of the Year, the Fayetteville Public Library is also the recipient of a $10,000 check, which will be presented at a special event hosted by Thomson Gale and Library Journal during the American Library Association's annual conference in Chicago later this month.

The library is the first in Arkansas to win the Library of the Year award, according to Schaper. A runner up in 2003 and 2004, the Fayetteville Public Library beat out stiff competition around the country for the honor including: the Cleveland Public Library, Hennepin County Public Library in Minnesota, King County Library System in Washington and the Seattle Public Library, which were all runners-up this year.

“This is a tremendous honor for which we are extremely grateful,” said Schaper. “It recognizes the tireless efforts of our community leaders, staff, volunteers and board of trustees who believed in this library and saw the potential for excellence we could achieve for the benefit of this community. This was truly a model of collaboration that shows what can be done in a town of any size anywhere in the country.”

According to Thomson Gale publishing company, the Library of the Year Award honors the library that most profoundly demonstrates outstanding community service. Members of Library Journal's editorial board, representatives from Thomson Gale's executive committee and librarians from around the country judge applicants based on three key factors:

• Service to the community;
• Creativity and innovation in developing specific community programs or a dramatic increase in library usage; and
• Leadership in creating programs that can be emulated by other libraries.

L ibrary usage has skyrocketed in the seven years since Schaper took over as executive director and her team began building the collection and considering the possibility of a new facility.

• Checkouts have increased by more two and a half times growing from 271,187 to 718,159.
• Library visits have tripled, growing from 192,179 to 576,773.
• Program attendance has grown from 14,448 to 41,658.
• Cardholders have more than tripled—from 15,662 to 48,419.

Other major accomplishments include:

A referendum to fund the construction of Blair Library was overwhelmingly approved by 75% of Fayetteville voters on August 15, 2000 . Completed with funding raised by the Fayetteville Public Library Foundation and the sale of the Roberta Fulbright Memorial Library building, the building is debt-free. It was completed on time and on budget and opened to the community Oct. 9, 2004 .

• The Fayetteville Public Library Foundation, established in 1999 to manage and raise funds for the library, conducted a successful capital campaign raising more than $8 million to complete Blair Library and endow its operations.
• The Friends of the Fayetteville Public Library, founded in 1981, operates the bookstore and conducts fundraising events such as an annual silent auction to strengthen the library's collection and programs.
• More than 160 regular volunteers contributed more than 14,500 hours in 2004 to deliver books to the homebound, convert 190,000 items to RFID, shelve and cover books, put on programs, and staff the computer lab. This donated time equates to seven additional full-time employees.

ABOUT LIBRARY JOURNAL

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