Northlake, IL Public Library Utilizing Crowdfunding Campaign To Buy 9 Foot Statue of Incredible Hulk, Acquire More Graphic Novels

Note: Northlake, IL is located just west of Chicago.
Learn About the Crowdfunding Campaign
Includes picture of statute and info about a proposed digital creation station.
The fundraising began about two weeks ago and has received press attention from the local newspaper, The Huffington Post, and most recently from a radio station in Ireland.
So far $2,308 of the $30,000 goal has been raised. The campaign ends in 25 days (June 9, 2013).
Along with purchasing the 9 foot stature of The Hulk, the library will use some of the money to acquire more graphic novels and build a digital media creation station.
From the Franklin Park Herald-Journal:

Northlake resident Tom Mukite became a Library trustee in October 2012 so he could push the project.
“We’ve been working on The Hulk statue since August when we first got the idea for it,” Mukite said. “It was running a bit slow. We have to get everything approved by the trustees. I figured if I was on the board, everything would be easier.”
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The library owns about 2,300 graphic novels and Manga (Japanese comics). The sounds like a lot but it is dwarfed by adult fiction — about 18,000 titles — and youth fiction — another 10,000 or so titles.
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To motivate prospective donors, the library is offering a number of perks. Those include graphic novels signed by their creators — including one by current The Hulk writer Mark Waid — and transportation by fire engine to the Northlake fire station for a pizza party.
Also, for a $20 donation, anyone on the committee will dress up as a comic character and have a photo taken of him or her self with a speech bubble in a randomly chosen part of Northlake.

Here’s How the Northlake Library Explains the Project on the Indiegogo Crowdfunding Page:

Today’s libraries are celebrating creativity, entertainment and life long learning, and they are doing it with technology and popular materials including graphic novels. The problem is that many people still think of libraries in the old way. We want to smash that stuffy reputation with a 9 foot tall Incredible Hulk Statue.
Why The Hulk? Just as Dr. Bruce Banner transforms into the Hulk, we want our library community members to make their own personal transformations through books, programs, and awesome new equipment. This larger-than-life literary character will become a giant green beacon of light to highlight our graphic novel collection, our creation station…not to mention the library’s sense of humor and whimsy. The project will show off the fun side of the library and get the community talking. The HULK will force patrons to look at the library in a whole new way.

The video below provides an overview of the campaign. At 2:50 in the video we learn that the Northlake Public Library will send any book to any person in any location if it’s requested at the users local library. No details about who pays for the ILL transaction and shipping if the local library doesn’t provide ILL services.

Video Overview (Also Embedded on the Crowdfunding Info Page)

Learn More About the Crowdfunding Campaign, Donate
Includes picture of statute and info about a proposed digital creation station.

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