At a check presentation event on February 8, Friends President Norine Amend said: "Friends of the Ferndale Library are stepping up today to invite the community of greater Ferndale to join us. We need to move forward rapidly on all of the building projects which have been approved – repair to the old Boys and Girls Club, a state of the art police station arising from the remodeled current library – and the new building, a 21st century library for Ferndale.
That is why we want to make a donation and why we also want to issue a challenge. Ferndale Friends are presenting a check for $10,000 to the New Library Project. We challenge businesses, organizations and citizens to match our donation during the start-up “Pioneer” phase of fundraising. Between now and the end of Old Settlers Picnic in July, here is what we encourage and challenge our community to achieve: 10 regional corporations each donate $10,000; 2 companies each donate $5,000; 5 businesses each donate $2,000; 10 organizations and individuals each donate $1000 and finally, 100 library patrons each donate $100.00. That makes $150,000 in matching pledges. Wouldn’t this be an exciting beginning?? Please join us!
Polar Tankers Inc. $6,000 Gift
On January 21, 2010 Polar Tankers and its parent company, ConocoPhillips announced a $6,000 contribution to the Whatcom Community Foundation (Foundation) for a project to build a new library in Ferndale. With this gift, Polar Tankers and ConocoPhillips become one of the early corporate donors for the new public library, to be constructed on Main Street, west of Ferndale City Hall. The check was presented by Jeffrey P. Shaw, Marine Superintendent of Polar Tankers to Mauri Ingram, President and CEO of the Whatcom Community Foundation.
“While Polar’s ships travel up and down the west coast, many of our employees live in the state of Washington,” explains Polar Tankers’ local marine superintendent Jeff Shaw. “Contributing to a new library in Ferndale is a great way to support and invest in a community where we live and work,” adds Shaw.
The Ferndale community’s demand for library services exceeds the existing building’s capacity. The economic downturn continues to result in record numbers of visitors; in some cases, more than 900 people per day visit the branch.
A group of long time supporters of the New Ferndale Library gathered on a sunny, crisp Wednesday morning to mark a project milestone. A colorful sign promoting the project and the associated capital campaign was posted on the future library site on Main Street west of City Hall. The campaign is already more than half way to its goal, including the generous contribution from an anonymous donor to the Whatcom Community Foundation, the Ferndale city council’s commitment of funds and other assets, a Whatcom County Library System budget allocation and several individual contributions!Click on an image for a larger view.
Mission
The mission of the New Ferndale Library Project is to meet the long term needs of the Ferndale community by building a downtown information and education center combining the warmth of a traditional library with state-of-the-art technology: A community living-room where everyone can read, learn, work, meet, and grow.
