Wrap-Up of the For All We Call Mizzou Campaign
Now that the For All We Call Mizzou campaign has ended, with over one billion dollars in gifts and pledges for MU, I would like to give you an overview of the success of the campaign for the Libraries. As of December 31, 2008, the MU Libraries raised $8,204,439, which is 102.58% of our $8 million campaign goal. The Library Society, consisting of individuals who have contributed $1,000 or more, currently boasts 98 members. The Honor with Books program has raised over $28,000 since it began in FY05, and the Adopt-A-Book program inaugurated in FY07, has raised over $20,000, enabling the conservation of over 100 books from our rare and special collections. Before the campaign started, we had seventeen endowed funds totaling $2.3 million for library collections. Today we have forty-one such funds totaling $4.5 million.
During the campaign, the MU Libraries hosted five Library Society Dinners to honor our major donors and supporters. The following distinguished speakers presented keynote talks at the dinners:
o Diane Glancy, author and Mizzou alumna (2004),
o Alice Prochaska, Yale University Librarian (2005),
o John Y. Cole, director of the Center for the Book at the Library of Congress (2006),
o Vartan Gregorian, president of Carnegie Corporation (2008), and
o Robert M. O’Neil, director of the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression (2009).
The MU Libraries also hosted events for alumni and friends in New York, New Jersey, Boston, and Washington, D.C.. Ron Powers, author, Pulitzer Prize winner and MU graduate, was guest speaker at the New York event. The events have proved quite popular, and have enabled the Libraries to build and expand Mizzou connections beyond the state of Missouri.
Although the first major fundraising campaign for the MU Libraries is over, Gena Scott, Sheila Voss and Shannon Cary – with help from all of you – continue to cultivate donors and solicit support for the Libraries. Just recently, retired area physician and alumnus, Dr. Gene Ridenhour, established the Ruth E. Ridenour MU Libraries Student Ambassadors endowment in memory of his wife, who was a secretary at the Main Library (Ellis Library) in the 1960’s. In March, six of the student ambassadors attended leadership training and were able to meet Dr. Ridenhour. He talked to them about how much his wife loved working in the library and how she regarded the staff of the Libraries as a second family. It’s clear that library staff members make a difference in people’s lives.
So I want to thank all of you for the important role you played in the success of the For All We Call Mizzou campaign. Your talents, hard work and dedication to service demonstrate how important the Libraries are to the mission of the University. That is what enables us to maintain and increase support from our benefactors.