Library Funding Hits Crunch Time in San Diego, “Gift a Brick” Program Launched

From the San Diego Union-Tribune:

The new $184.9 million Central Library, its steel dome already glistening in the sunlight, has a $15 million funding gap and planners are turning to the public for help.

The nine-level library at Park Boulevard and J Street is due to open next summer and an unnamed institutional donor has promised to cover the gap until the final donations are received.

So Katie Sullivan, vice chairwoman of the San Diego Public Library Foundation, has turned to a standard grass-roots technique to finish out the fund drive: “Gift A Brick” for the new library.

She said about 3,000 bricks are available, priced from $150 to $1,000, and that could generate about $500,000. There is room for 36 characters on each brick.

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Besides the bricks, the library foundation offers some pricier opportunities for eternal recognition:

• Room tables and study rooms, $25,000

• Study carrels, computer workstations and “cozy reading areas,” $10,000

• Garden courtyard benches, $5,000

• Auditorium chairs, $2,500

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Filed under: Funding, Libraries, News, Public Libraries