Library
Wyoming
Winter 2007
Roundup
Philanthropy
Carol McMurry
Carnegie Libraries
Dr. William T. Close
Wyoming Library Roundup • Winter 2007
From Laramie to Seattle —
helping Wyoming’s libraries
Emily Parker spent her high school years in Laramie,
Wyoming. Today, she helps Wyoming’s public libraries get the
technology their communities need.
“Today, it is virtually impossible to succeed without access
to computers and the Internet,” she said. “For the millions of
people who don’t have those tools at home, the public library
helps level the playing field.”
Parker now lives in Seattle and works as a program officer in
the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s U.S. Libraries initiative.
Since 1997, the foundation has invested $320 million to
support computers, Internet access and staff training in
public libraries in all 50 states and the U.S. territories. The
foundation also funds education and global health initiatives.
In Wyoming, every county library has benefited from the
libraries program. Wyoming has received nearly $700,000 in
Gates Foundation grants. Nearly half a million of that went
to putting computers in libraries. Other grants have upgraded
and replaced equipment, and provided training on technology,
Spanish language outreach and sustaining rural libraries.
Parker was 12 when she moved to Laramie after her
father, Donald F. Parker, became the Dean of the College
of Business: “I lived all over the country before moving to
Laramie and fell in love with Wyoming because of its beauty,
its great people and the pace of life.”
After graduating from Laramie High School, she attended
Stanford University, traveled a bit more, and then went back
to Stanford for Business School. In 2006, she joined the
Gates Foundation.
“I joined the foundation for many reasons,” she explained,
Wyoming Library Roundup • Winter 2007
“but fundamentally because I admire what the organization
is doing to improve the lives of people who lack the
opportunities many of us take for granted.”
As a program officer, she oversees grants to increase
the prevalence and quality of technology, specifically free
computer and Internet access in public libraries that serve
low-income communities.
In 1996, before the U.S. Libraries initiative began making
grants, only one in four libraries had Internet access; today,
more than 99 percent do. A 2002 U.S. Department of
Commerce study found that 14 million people regularly used
public library computers to further their education and to
find employment, health and government information.
Now that most libraries have Internet access, the focus has
turned to sustaining technology: upgrades, staff training,
evaluation and advocacy. Parker said libraries have become
“community technology hubs,” and the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation wants to help them flourish in that role.
The foundation often hears stories of how public library
Internet access has helped entrepreneurs, distance students
and job seekers. After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, she said,
thousands in the Gulf Coast used public libraries as literal
lifelines to find loved ones, find new jobs, fill out FEMA
forms and start new lives.
“It’s very satisfying to help bring those services to people
who need it, and to bolster libraries in the process,” she said.
For more information on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, visit www.
gatesfoundation.org.
8
Library
Wyoming
Winter 2007
Roundup
Sheridan County Library’s
Cathy Butler.............................................3
Wyoming Community Foundation’s
George Gault. ......................................4
Giving to Wyoming’s Libraries
Carol McMurry.................5
table of contents
11
books, bargains, friends and fun
Library Booksales ................................8
Wyoming’s
Carnegie Libraries................11
Mabel Wilkinson
Horseback Librarian..............................14
Physician to the poor and powerful in Africa
Dr. William T. Close...................15
What makes a good library great?
15
Foundations and Friends..........18
Community College and University
Library legacies................................20
Bookshelf for Wyoming Readers............. 22
Booksales around the state.................25
Foundation Center Cooperating Collections
Libraries places to find funds................26
The Close family in Greenwich, Connecticut during
Bill’s years in medical school and residency.
Wyoming Library Roundup • Winter 2007
Library
recipe
Savory Chevre
Cheesecake
Wyoming
5 ½ oz. package rosemary crackers
½ cup butter, melted
1 ½ pounds goat cheese
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese,
softened
5 eggs
1 tsp. crushed dried rosemary
1/8 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. ground black pepper
Sprigs of fresh rosemary
Roundup
Official publication of the
Wyoming State Library,
the Wyoming Library Association,
and the Wyoming Center for the Book
Volume 49, Number 1, Winter 2007
ISSN: 0043-9738
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Generously spray cooking spray in a
9-inch springform pan. Wrap outside
of pan in foil to ‘waterproof ’ it (foil
should come halfway up the side); set
aside.
Tina Lackey
Editor and Designer
Susan Vittitow
Assistant Editor and Writer
Process crackers in food processor
until they resemble fine crumbs;
combine with melted butter. Press
crumb mixture along bottom and up
sides of prepared pan; chill.
Wyoming State Library
Publications and Marketing Office
516 South Greeley Hwy., Cheyenne, WY 82002
307/777-6338
Combine goat cheese, cream cheese,
eggs, rosemary, salt and pepper in
food processor; process until well
mixed. Spoon into chilled crust. Set
cheesecake pan into larger pan; fill
outer pan with water until halfway up
sides of springform pan.
Bake for about 70 minutes; top of
cheesecake should be lightly browned
and when touched gently in the center,
dry to the touch but still soft. Cool
and refrigerate overnight. Garnish
with sprigs of fresh rosemary. Serve
with crackers or bagette slices.
Each year, Sheridan County Friends
of the Library members make their
favorite hors d’oeuvres for their annual
fund raising auction. This recipe comes
to us courtesy of Nancy Garber,
President of the Friends.
Nancy writes: “This cheesecake looks
like a dessert but has a wonderful
smooth goat cheese flavor. I like to
plate it on a raised cake plate and
garnish with fresh rosemary sprigs. It
looks very natural and earthy – quite
elegant.”
Wyoming Library Roundup is published quarterly by the
Wyoming Library Association and the Wyoming State Library. All
rights reserved. Contents of this magazine may not be
reproduced without the express permission of the publishers.
The Wyoming Library Roundup is produced in part with Library Services and Technology Act federal
funds awarded to the Wyoming State Library program from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
Wyoming Library Roundup • Winter 2007
cathy butler, sheridan county library
Philanthropy has been important to libraries throughout
Wyoming. In Sheridan County, the public library has a history
of philanthropy pre-dating the Wyoming State Legislature’s
1886 authorization of county libraries. In 1883 John D. Loucks,
Sheridan’s founder, opened a small library in the upstairs of a
building at the corner of Loucks and Main Streets. By 1903 the
library moved to the Y.M.C.A., having outgrown its location
when another early resident, H.A. Coffeen announced he was
gifting his 4,000 volume private collection to the library. By
1904 several community organizations joined the effort to
secure funding to purchase a suitable site on which to build
the Sheridan Carnegie Public Library. Andrew Carnegie
provided $12,500 for the building, which opened to the
public in 1905. Sheridan County Public Library would remain
in the Carnegie building until 1971 when Harry Fulmer pledged
$300,000 for a new public library dedicated to the memory of his late wife, Margaret. Sadly,
Harry Fulmer died of a heart attack before seeing the completion of the library; but leaving the library
the sole beneficiary of his estate. The library’s first endowment was established.
The Sheridan County Library Foundation was incorporated in 1982 and received its IRS 501 (c)(3)
designation in 1984. It was reorganized in 1988 and expanded to a 13 member self-appointing board.
The mission of the Foundation is to raise funds for special projects and to build a solid financial base
to ensure the future of the Library. To that end Foundation fund raising efforts have expanded the
Wyoming Room, re-roofed the library, purchased five properties on the library block, expanded the
parking lot, constructed a new maintenance building, renovated the Fulmer Library (in progress), and
established an endowment valued at more than $900,000.
Because of the vision and joint efforts of the Boards of Trustees and Foundation, the county library
now owns the entire block on which it is located. This far-sighted action enabled the library to enlarge
its parking lot in 2004 and set aside green space for future library expansion, if needed.
Few people relish the idea of asking others for money. However, our Foundation members have
learned that asking community members to be a partner in building a better public library is indeed
a worthy cause, and one that people are proud to support. Public Libraries are one of the few local
institutions that serve everyone—all the special interest groups in our community—the public!
Sheridan County’s story is just one example of the many libraries in our state that have received the
support they needed to excel from local philanthropy. We are indeed blessed with a community that
has a great deal of pride in its public library. That pride is manifested in the generous gifts, hard work
and dedication of community members, which began over 120 years ago and continues today.
Cathy Butler,
Director, Sheridan County Public Library
Wyoming Library Roundup • Winter 2007
3
george gault, wyoming community foundation
4
The traditional meaning of philanthropy, derived from a Greek
word, means love of mankind. In recent times it has come to be
associated with the donation or granting of money, goods or other
support to various worthy causes, usually over a long period of
time. It is a way to directly affect change in society without recourse to the bureaucratic mechanisms of government. It is the
voluntary giving by individuals or groups in order to promote the
common good. Among the many good things philanthropy supports are cultural institutions like colleges, museums and libraries.
People who give today want to do more than just write and
mail a check. They’re giving a combination of their money and
expertise, working more closely with the recipients of their donations and expecting and
monitoring for results. Their donations of time, talent, encouragement and dollars change as their
lives change.
Americans are incredibly charitable. Mark Trumbull estimated in a November 26, 2006 article in
the “Christian Science Monitor” that we contribute $260 billion annually, and every dollar of that
will, in turn, generate an additional $19 of extra national income. We also donate an estimated
$150 billion of time annually as volunteers (an average value of $18.04/hour). This highlights the
economic impact of nonprofits both in the nation and in Wyoming. A 2004 study of nonprofits
in Wyoming found that we constitute the fourth largest employer in the state, ahead of mining,
construction, finance and agriculture.
While philanthropic giving is frequently associated with wealthy people, people perform philanthropic acts every day without possessing great wealth. In fact, people with incomes of less than
$20,000 give more as a percent of their income than wealthy individuals. A recent Wall Street Journal Online survey found that 83% of Americans had given an average of $1,220 in the last twelve
months. A Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund survey found that baby boomers averaged $6,000 per
year. Rob Grunewald, an associate economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis studied
county level economies in 47 states and discovered that as personal incomes rise in a county, the
incomes of nonprofits also increase, suggesting that the “products” of nonprofits constitute a “superior good” for which people are willing to pay.
In his Proclamation on behalf of Philanthropy Days in June, 2006, Governor Freudenthal noted
that Wyoming citizens volunteer their time and their money to address the immediate charitable
needs of their communities and that they also seek ways through philanthropy to make their
communities and community organizations more sustainable over the long term. He encouraged
citizens to reflect on the role of the voluntary or independent sector in contributing to an ever
improving quality of life for this and future generations.
There are more than 200 private and family foundations in Wyoming; corporate giving is increasing with the state’s improving economic situation. The Wyoming Association of Nonprofit Organizations and others are helping build the capacity of nonprofit organizations to carry out their
missions more effectively. All of these will help nonprofit organizations focus on continuing to
improve the quality of life for Wyoming people and communities as they carry out their individual
missions.
George Gault,
President, Wyoming Community Foundation
Wyoming Library Roundup • Winter 2007
Giving back to Wyoming’s libraries
Carol
McMurry
Carol McMurry agrees
wholeheartedly with what
Andrew Carnegie wrote
over a century ago in his
Gospel of Wealth: “The man
who dies…rich, dies disgraced.” “Isn’t that a nice quote?” she said when we spoke
to her at her home in Loveland, Colorado. “I don’t think he was the world’s nicest
person, but he was a very interesting person, and he truly believed he should give
his money away. And he did – he gave it away.”
Like Carnegie, McMurry believes in giving, and giving big, to libraries. In 2000, she established
the Carol McMurry Library Endowment with a $2.5 million gift to the Wyoming Community
Foundation. The endowment funds library staff education and training, collections, improved
access for library users and projects that help libraries develop local funding sources.
Since its inception, the endowment has made more than $700,000 in grants to libraries and
individuals, and the expected distribution this year alone will exceed three-quarters of a million
dollars.
Wyoming Library Roundup • Winter 2007
5
Bookmark
promoting the
McMurry
Library
Endowment.
Posters of
this image are
available by
contacting
svitti@state.
wy.us.
Carol learned her philanthropy at
home. She is one of five children
of William N. “Neil” McMurry
and the late Ellie McMurry, whose
company, McMurry Oil, made the first
commercially viable gas strike in the
Jonah Field in 1993. The Jonah Field,
in Sublette County near Pinedale, is one
of the largest natural gas plays in recent
history, with more than 10 trillion cubic
feet in estimated reserves.
The entire family has given to
numerous causes in Wyoming: the
University of Wyoming, arts and
culture, libraries, health care. A few
examples: Brother Mick McMurry and
his wife Susie have their own charitable
foundation; Carol and her two younger
sisters Susan McMurry Samuelson and
the late Gayle Kinnison established
donor-advised funds through the
Wyoming Community Foundation;
their father and his wife, Doris, are
known to be generous benefactors to
many causes, including Natrona County
Public Library and Casper College. The
University of Wyoming, in fact, named
the McMurrys the “Family of the Year”
in 2002 for their many gifts to the state.
“My parents taught my brothers and
sisters and I the importance of giving
back to our communities,” she said.
“None of our philanthropic efforts
would be possible without the influence
of our parents, especially my father
who was the person who worked very
hard to achieve success. He is really the
person to thank for what my family
has given to Wyoming. We’re just the
6
recipients of his hard work.”
Carol McMurry was hooked on
libraries early. Her grandmother,
Alma Doke McMurry, took her to
the old Carnegie Library in Casper
every Saturday when she was a child.
The building was demolished in the
early 1970s, but its picture is on her
endowment’s posters. Carol and her
husband, Pat Spieles, also recently
donated a $1 million endowment to the
University of Wyoming libraries, and
named it for her grandmother.
As a teen, she was a self-described
“ultimate nerd,” who spent as much
time as she could in the library. “I like
to read, she said. “If you like to read,
you’re going to spend your time in
libraries.”
She began shelving books at the
University of Wyoming Coe Library
as a student in the 1960s. After
graduation, she moved to the reference
desk. Later, she moved to Cheyenne
where she worked first at the Laramie
County Library System and then at
the UW Family Practice Residency
Medical Library. When she moved to
Colorado, she worked for the hospital in
Longmont.
Carol officially retired in 1999. She and
Spieles split their time between homes
in Loveland and Grand Lake. They
have been married 15 years, although
they have known each other since
grade school. She still shelves books as
a volunteer at the Grand Lake Juniper
Library. The two helped raise money for
a new library building that opened in
May 2006.
Wyoming Library Roundup • Winter 2007
“We went from 750 square feet to
3,500,” she said. “It’s a beautiful log
building. One of the things about
Grand Lake is you can’t build anything
there unless it fits into the architecture
of the town. They have that ‘Rocky
Mountain Rustic,’ or whatever they call
it, and it was a labor of love to get this
built.”
The old library in Grand Lake literally
didn’t have seating; now, the new
building has space for people to relax,
read and use the free wireless Internet.
Despite the naysayers who said the
new library wasn’t needed, “Since they
opened that library,’ she said, “our
numbers of library cards have doubled
and tripled almost.”
McMurry’s wealth came unexpectedly
in mid-life. When it did, her friends
planted the seeds for the library
endowment. McMurry credits Sandra
Donovan, retired library director of the
Laramie County Community College
for the idea.
“When my family sold the Jonah
Field, which I refer to as ‘winning the
lottery,’ Sandra said, ‘Well now Carol,
you should do something for libraries,
because you don’t need fur coats and
fancy cars.’”
It only made sense to her: “There’s
only so much stuff you need in this
world, so I might as well give it where it
will do some good, instead of putting it,
as Sandra said, in fur coats and diamond
rings.”
In 2002 the Carol McMurry Library
Endowment was split into two
programs. One side of it goes directly
to libraries for their needs. The other
goes to individuals, the people who
work in libraries, for their personal
education and training. Individual
grants are modest – up to $1,500 – but
they have made a great difference to
a huge number of library employees,
including many who have used the
money to pursue advanced degrees in
librarianship. The endowment has made
236 grants to individuals totaling more
than $257,000.
“The day is coming when all the older
librarians are going to be retiring,”
McMurry said. “So it’s nice to see that
there are younger people coming along.
That’s really important.”
On the libraries side, one of the
projects McMurry has been most
excited about funding was the Library
Leadership Institute. The Institute, held
in Lander each summer since 2001, has
been a way for Wyoming’s libraries to
“grow their own” leaders. Eighty people
from all types of libraries have learned
new skills and unlocked their leadership
potential through the program; many
of them have since taken on greater
roles in their communities and in the
Wyoming Library Association.
“It was a group effort,” she said of
the Institute. “That’s one of the things
that I really like to see is people trying
to work together instead of everybody
reinventing the wheel all the time.”
Grant requests are as unique as the
needs of Wyoming’s many communities.
“I am amazed at the creativity of the
grants we get. They put a lot of thought
into their applications, because I read
every one of them.” She said some that
don’t seem to make sense at first glance
make perfect sense once she gets into
the proposal. For example, Lincoln
County Library in Kemmerer asked for
what seemed to be a large amount for
audio books. As it turned out, many of
their patrons had long work commutes
and listened to many of their books in
the car.
“Another thing is that people ask
us for small sums of money when we
Pat Spieles and Carol McMurry at their home in Grand Lake, Colorado.
know they need more. Now, I may be
setting myself up for something here,”
she said. Libraries often “make do” with
modest amounts, or ask for less than
what they need hoping they’ll be more
likely to get it.
However, “Generally, the endowment
almost always has enough funds to be
able to fund legitimate grants,” she said.
It hasn’t happened yet that we haven’t
had enough money, because we don’t
give grants for millions of dollars.
They’re small – some of them are very
small.”
McMurry said libraries are doing a
great job keeping ahead of technology:
“They’ve been ahead of the game
sometimes because they knew that
information was power.”
She gives most to the causes that have
truly touched her life. One of those is
The Children’s Hospital in Denver. She
and Spieles became involved with that
cause when one of their grandchildren
was diagnosed with a brain tumor.
“He’s doing OK,” she says, knocking
on the table. “He’s ten years old, eight
years post-operation.”
She says libraries need to get people in
the door and make those connections
so that people will see what they have to
offer and see the need to give. “There
are people out there who can’t afford to
buy books or CDs or have a computer
at home or have access to the Internet.
So it just makes us a better world to
have those kinds of things, free. Some
people say libraries are not going to
exist in the future, but you know they
will.”
She added, “Libraries are part of a
community. It’s something that makes
us civilized. It’s not just books, it’s
culture and places where people come
together.”
For more information on the
Wyoming Community Foundation, visit
www.wycf.org. For grant applications
to the Carol McMurry Library
Endowment, visit http://will.state.
wy.us/mcmurry/. For an endowment
poster picturing the old Natrona
County Carnegie library, contact svitti@
state.wy.us or 307/777-5915.
Wyoming Library Roundup • Winter 2007
7
books
bargains
friends
and fun
Noah Byers and August
Pownall make some exciting
finds at the the Campbell
County Public Library
book sale.
check out the sales at your local library
It’s a good day for bibliophiles when the local library holds its book
sale.
Volunteers haul boxes out of the basement, out of the storeroom.
Others quickly organize them for display in anticipation of the
hundreds of bargain-shoppers. Boxes and bags are stacked ready for
people to lug their treasures home. All of it fun, and all of it for a
good cause: to raise money for the library.
8
Wyoming Library Roundup • Winter 2007
A view of the Sheridan County Library booksale.
A book sale is a big community
happening, and the biggest of the big
sales are at Natrona County Public
Library in Casper. The Friends of the
Library runs the sale. In 2006, their
spring and fall book sales together
raised $57,482, and their spring sale is
by far the largest in the state.
How many books are sold at sales
around the state? How many shoppers?
Ask a library director, and a typical
answer is “Lots.” Or, more specifically,
“Lots and lots.” Hot Springs County
Library counts their sale books by the
box, about 150 of them. Guesstimates
range from 1,000 books up for sale
at the smaller libraries to tens of
thousands at Laramie and Natrona
counties. Also on sale are DVDs,
videos, music, puzzles and oddball items
– anything donated that the libraries
couldn’t use on their shelves.
Shoppers load up on books for the
kids and dime novels (literally a dime
sometimes), packing bags full for the
cost of a new hardback or two. Jane
Bramwell, director of Weston County
Library, said, “The sale is a godsend
to people on small incomes. The
retired people snap up the histories,
biographies, etc, and the couples with
small children wipe out our children’s
books.”
Campbell County Public Library
System volunteers spotted three women
who looked like they were in a late-night
comedy skit, trying to load 35 bags on a
mail cart. “They spent a lot of money,
and now the logistics of getting all these
books home were a reality,” said Patty
Myers, library director. “They fluttered
over their purchases, still
excited, as the bags tilted
and tipped every which
way.”
The sales draw big
crowds – particularly the
first day of the sale when
selection is best. People
line up in Riverton and
drive 120 miles from
Sweetwater Station for
the Dubois sale.
At Natrona County, the
fire department limits the
number of customers in
the book sale room to
150. Friends President
Chris Mullen said, “On
the first Saturday of our
sale, we will fill the rooms
with our 150 and only
let a new person in when
one person leaves. It will
take hours to clear the queue.”
Albany County Public Library opens
extra hours during the sale, but it
doesn’t put much of a strain on staffing.
“One person can staff the library
since everyone goes to the sale, just
saying ‘Hi.’ as they walk by,” said Susan
Simpson, county librarian.
At Lincoln County Library System,
Director Brenda McGinnis said, “We
make sure that we schedule veteran
sales people who are not easily rattled
for opening day. It can get crazy with
people buying books by the boxfuls and
carrying them out on a dolly”
The volunteers are what make the
sales succeed. Most sales are run by
local Friends groups, but the sales take
extra hands. Extras are nabbed from
local high schools, the 4-Club or the
fire department, particularly for the
heavy moving. At Uinta County Library
in Evanston, a Boy Scout headed up
the entire fall sale for his Eagle Scout
Going through boxes of books at the Teton County
Library booksale.
Wyoming Library Roundup • Winter 2007
9
project.
Volunteers handle more than just the
frenzied activity and semi-organized
chaos of the sale
days; donations
are sorted
throughout the
year as they come
in. Mullen said,
“The ladies that
spend every day
down in the basement of the library are
the true heroes of this organization.
There are literally a handful of
individuals that do 90 percent of the
work throughout the year.”
Sale stock can return year to year. “We
consider ourselves ‘literature recyclers,’”
Mullen said. “Many of the books we sell
get donated back for resale.”
Rourke, Fremont County Public Library
System Director. “They have partnered
with state agencies, homeschoolers,
local and tribal
colleges, and any
other organization
that can use free
materials.”
Buyers often pick
up inexpensive
books, for a favorite
cause – inner-city schools, Indian
reservations, Christian missions. The
libraries sometimes donate books to
organizations as well, or even proceeds
– last year, Sublette County Library’s
sale benefited libraries in the Gulf
Coast that were hit by Katrina.
Some of those books go surprisingly
far. At Johnson County Library, “In the
past two years selected children’s titles
from our book sale books have gone
to Ethiopia and Namibia to enhance
learning materials in schools there,”
Director Cynthia Twing said. “Two
Buffalo residents have taken this on as a
personal project. They pay for shipping
to get them there and the library
provides the books for free.”
The sales are also about promoting
literacy, particularly with young readers.
“When children want to buy a book, I
accept whatever they have,” said Julie
Eatmon, volunteer specialist at Laramie
County Library System, “sometimes a
penny or a nickel or a picture they drew
and colored, or if they straighten up
the books, they get a book in payment
– anything to get a book in their hands.”
So if you want a book in your hands,
a literary bargain, a chance to help
out a good cause and a good time at
a community celebration of reading,
check out your local library book sale.
“We recognize this event as a means of
serving library patrons who ‘check out with
their checkbooks’ twice a year.”
-Isabel Hoy, Goshen County Library Director
The Teton County Library booksale is a popular
destination for book lovers.
Goshen County Library Director
Isabel Hoy concurred: “We recognize
this event as a means of serving library
patrons who ‘check out with their
checkbooks’ twice a year.”
In Lander, “The Friends are
committed to getting as many books
into as many hands as possible,” said Jill
For a list of library booksales
throughout Wyoming, see page 25.
10
Wyoming Library Roundup • Winter 2007
wyoming’s
carnegie
libraries
“To Carnegie, the library symbolized the unity and summit of all
knowledge, the bones, the binding sinews, the flesh and heart of any
society that could call itself strong.”
-Vartan Gregorian, President, Carnegie Corporation
Photos above, clockwise: Weston County, Niobrara County,
unknown interior, and Albany County
Wyoming Library Roundup • Winter 2007
11
Beginning in 1886, industrialist
Andrew Carnegie spent $56 million
of his personal fortune to build 1,681
public library buildings in the United
States.
Sixteen Wyoming towns and cities
received library building grants from
Carnegie between 1899 and 1917.
Grants totaled $245,000; another
$10,000 went unaccepted by Rawlins.
Per capita, Wyoming received more
money from Carnegie than any other
state.
Carnegie was born in Dunfermline,
Scotland in 1835 and migrated to the
United States with his family in 1848.
From a start as a bobbin boy, he became
one of the wealthiest men in American
history. He organized the Carnegie Steel
Company that sold to J.P. Morgan in
1901 for the staggering sum of $480
million.
Retired, Carnegie devoted the rest
of his life to philanthropy and writing.
Before he died in 1919, he had given
away more than $350 million and
endowed the Carnegie Corporation to
carry on his philanthropic work.
They’re often known as “Carnegie
libraries,” but he did not require his
name on the structures. He did demand
two things: that the local communities
provide 10 percent of building cost
annually for upkeep and that the
libraries be free. As a boy, he’d been
unable to pay a subscription fee of $2
annually to borrow books from a public
library. Free public libraries, he believed,
would be the best means of selfeducation available for the masses.
Cheyenne received Wyoming’s first
Carnegie library grant in December
1899. The last went to Thermopolis
in 1917, a scant seven months before
Carnegie discontinued his library
building program.
Six of Wyoming’s Carnegie buildings
fell to the wrecking ball between 1954
and 1974: Cheyenne, Sheridan, Casper,
Basin, Douglas and Cody. Other
structures were surrounded by later
additions or have passed out of library
hands. Only in Newcastle, Lander
12
and in Lusk are the original Carnegie
structures still a prominent feature of
the library.
Lander wasn’t far behind Cheyenne
when it landed a Carnegie grant in 1906.
The building opened on March 1, 1909
at 451 N. 2nd St. with a grand total of
427 books, 17 periodicals, 8 school
journals and 5 magazines. All had to be
used in the library itself; it wasn’t until
1911 that the catalog was completed
and materials could circulate.
A library annex was built in 1976 to
keep up with the growing community,
while still preserving the architecture of
the old building. The original Carnegie
library – with its fireplace, decorative
woodwork and leaded glass windows
intact – is used for office and meeting
space, while the collection and public
services are housed in the annex.
Free public libraries were far from
universal in the Carnegie era, and some
towns were apparently cautious about
this particular gift horse from the steel
magnate. Four years after it opened,
the Lander library received a letter
dated Sept. 15, 1913 from a Lawrence
R. Kelly, Trinity Episcopal Church in
Thermopolis. Kelly wrote:
“I have before me a letter which
tells how a town or city may secure a
Carnegie Library. But before taking
up this matter with the City Council
and the public I desire to know from
a few towns in this state that have
libraries how they came to secure one,
how much of an encumbrance it is
on the town,
and statistics
showing the
intrinsic value
derived from
it by the public
in general.
It is not well
for any city,
I believe, to
undertake any
new thing that
will hinder
the town
financially
Wyoming Library Roundup • Winter 2007
and not in any time add to the material
enlargement of the mentality of the
general public.”
Kelly’s role – if any – in Hot Springs
County’s eventually obtaining a grant
is unclear, but the Woman’s Club and
the Women of the West joined forces
to get funds both from Carnegie
and the county commissioners. The
Thermopolis building’s grand opening
was on September 12, 1919.
In Rock Springs, the Rev. Kipplenger,
a Methodist minister, was writing every
philanthropic organization he could
think of, trying to raise funds for a
church building. His only response was
from the Carnegie Corporation; they
couldn’t build a church, but they could
build a library. Rock Springs received
its Carnegie grant in 1907 and opened
the library in 1910. After later additions,
white brick walls in the current library
are still evidence of that first building.
Even where the town’s Carnegie
library was demolished, you sometimes
find pieces of that era. In Basin, a
beautiful stained glass window in the
new library was preserved when the old
building fell in 1954.
Grant applicants often faced a flurry
of communication with Carnegie’s
Groundbreaking for Lander Carnegie Library.
From left: Abe Fosher, Adam Griesemer (Architect), Mayor Billy Johnson,
Sheriff Charles Stough, Eugene Amoretti Jr,
Robertson and Deane (contractors) and S. Conant
Parks.
secretary, James Bertram, who sent terse
and sometimes demanding missives in
simplified spelling.
Platte County Public Library System
in Wheatland has their original
correspondence, beginning with their
first letter to the Carnegie Corporation
on Jan. 13, 1916. Among Bertram’s
advice: “the site should be central,
agreeable to the great majority of the
people, and large enuf to giv light
all around the bilding and admit of
extension in the future.”
Bertram had numerous problems
with architect A.A. Baerresen’s plans.
He complained of “a great waste of
space” and thought the basement
design impractical. Several proposed
alterations later, Bertram wrote, “Your
proposed architect has evidently not
had experience in planning such library
bildings, and in view of the fact that
the plans put forward ar inferior to
the illustrated plans, it would be better
for you to be guided by the diagrams.
Pleas return the blueprint after you hav
studied it.”
Despite the minor tiffs, Wheatland’s
library opened to great fanfare in 1917.
A 1965 addition completely enveloped
the old Carnegie structure, although the
original roof is still visible from across
the street.
Niobrara County didn’t hire an
architect at all, prompting Bertram
to complain to the Wyoming Library
Association. Instead, the contractor
Elmer H. Ranck drew up plans and built
the structure. Oddly, the Lusk building,
with its distinctive Main Street corner
entrance, remains as an architectural
gem.
“The building is unique,” said
Niobrara County Library Director
Debbie Sturman. “Tourists stop to
admire it. A new building may have
been considered years ago, but in recent
years preserving and adding on was
always the plan.”
The Niobrara County Library was
expanded in 1999. Plans began in the
1970s when the Lusk Women’s Club
began raising funds for handicapped
access. The project added on
approximately 2,000 square feet with
a lift to all floors and an accessible
restroom. The original building opened
in 1919 at a cost of about $11,000; the
addition 80 years later was $325,000.
Several of Wyoming’s Carnegie
buildings passed out of library hands
and are now used for other purposes.
Johnson County’s building in Buffalo
has entered an extraordinary second life
as part of the Jim Gatchell Memorial
Museum.
The Johnson County moved out of
the old building early in 1989. Museum
Director John Gavin explained what
happened next: “A number of people
saw an opportunity to save one of
Buffalo’s oldest historic buildings and
went to the county commissioners to
have the building turned over to the
museum.”
It helped that the existing museum
was next door. The Carnegie building
was restored to house the museum
store, offices and meeting rooms. The
distinctive stone facade was repaired
and resealed. The entrance columns,
shifted about an inch, were moved
back to their original positions. Soffits,
gutters and downspouts were replaced
and trim was painted its original dark
green.
Gavin said the restoration has been
well received. Additional work linked
the Carnegie to the museum and added
handicapped access. The old library is
now the main entrance to the Gatchell
Museum.
“The Carnegie is an important cultural
asset for the city and for Johnson
County,” he said. “This building will
continue to serve the community for
many decades to come.”
For those who used them, Carnegie
libraries occupy a special place in the
heart, whether the building still stands
or whether it’s only a pleasant memory
of a Saturday morning in the stacks. For
Wyoming’s libraries, Andrew Carnegie’s
legacy was undeniable.
Wyoming’s
Carnegie
buildings
Cheyenne, Laramie County
$50,000 granted Dec. 27, 1899
Today’s dollars: $1,018,182*
Demolished 1971
Evanston, Uinta County
$11,000 granted February 20, 1903
Today’s dollars: $224,000*
Houses county museum and
chamber of commerce
Laramie, Albany County
$20,000 granted November 2, 1903
Today’s dollars: $407,273*
Houses city planning and parks &
recreation departments
Sheridan, Sheridan County
$12,500 granted March 18, 1904
Today’s dollars: $254,545*
Demolished 1974
Green River, Sweetwater
County
$20,000 granted December 8, 1905
Today’s dollars: $407,273*
Houses county circuit court
Casper, Natrona County
$13,000 granted February 13, 2006
Today’s dollars: $264,727*
Demolished around 1970
Lander, Fremont County
$15,000 granted November 27,
1906
Today’s dollars: $305,455*
Original building part of current
library
Rock Springs, Sweetwater
County
$12,500 granted December 13,
2007
Today’s dollars: $254,545*
Original building part of current
library
Wyoming Library Roundup • Winter 2007
13
Basin, Big Horn County
$17,500 granted June 29, 1908
Today’s dollars: $356,364*
Demolished 1954
Douglas, Converse County
$10,000 granted July 20, 1908
Today’s dollars: $203,636*
Demolished late 1960s
Buffalo, Johnson County
$12,500 granted Jan. 14, 1909
Today’s dollars: $254,545*
Restored; houses Jim Gatchell
Memorial Museum
Newcastle, Weston County
$12,500 granted February 20, 1911
Today’s dollars: $254,545*
Still used as central library;
expanded in 1983
Cody, Park County
$15,000 granted April 13, 1914
Today’s dollars: $299,406
Demolished 1965
Mabel Wilkinson:
Horseback Librarian
Melvil Dewey once said: “To my thinking a great librarian must … have a head
as clear as the master in diplomacy; a hand as strong as he who quells the raging
mob or leads great armies on to victory; and a heart as great as he who, to save
others, will, if need be, lay down his own life. …when I look into the future I
am inclined to think that most of the men who will achieve this greatness will be
women.”
He might have been describing Wyoming librarian Mabel Wilkinson. Wilkinson
was named the county librarian when Park County’s Carnegie building opened
on May 9, 1916. In 1915, she crisscrossed Platte County as a library field worker,
visiting “each post office, town village and hamlet in the county” to set up
traveling library collections.
Riding her horse Joker, who “had never done a mean thing so far in his life,”
she followed uncertain roads, detouring where homesteaders hastily threw
up fences. She fled violent thunderstorms, took shelter in a settler’s small sod
dugout, was chased by a bull and even shot a rattler from her saddle.
On arriving at one town “after opening eight barbed-wire gates and fording a
ditch twice and a creek six times,” she was informed that they had scheduled her
to play a violin solo that evening, prompting her to write, “Verily, there is no rest
for a librarian.”
Lusk, Niobrara County
$11,000 granted May 8, 1914
Today’s dollars: $219,564
Still used as central library;
renovated and expanded in 1999
Wheatland, Platte County
$12,500 granted May 15, 1916
Today’s dollars: $217,241
Original building part of current
library
Thermopolis, Hot Springs
County
$12,500 granted April 3, 1917
Today’s dollars: $183,942
Houses county extension office and
public health nurse
*Calculated using 1913 dollars. CPI
unavailable prior to 1913. Today’s
dollars courtesy of the State of
Wyoming Economic Analysis Division.
14
For a copy of Mabel
Wilkinson’s story,
“Experiences of a Library
Field Worker,” contact
[email protected] or 307777-6338.
Wyoming Library Roundup • Winter 2007
Dr. William T. Close
President Tombalbaye of Chad and
President Mobutu
observe Bill caring
for a mother of
twins
Physician to the poor
and the powerful in Africa
Dr. William T. Close thought he was going to Africa for a six-week mission in 1960. Instead, he stayed for 16 years.
Circumstance and happenstance in the Belgian Congo – later renamed Zaire, and now the Democratic Republic of the Congo
– led him to become physician to some of the most powerless and destitute in that country, as well as to the most powerful
man in the country: President Mobutu Sese Seko.
Close, a resident of Big Piney, wrote about his experiences in his recent book, Beyond the Storm, with Dr. Malonga
Miatudila. The book weaves stories about Dr. Close’s life together with the story of Mobutu’s fall into corruption and the
destruction of his country.
The Democratic Republic of Congo was a Belgian colony until independence was declared in 1960. Political chaos and
widespread violence ensued. In 1965, Colonel Mobutu seized power in a coup. When he took power, he said he would govern
for five years to put the country on a stable footing. Instead, he remained in power 32 years until he was ousted in a rebellion
in 1997.
Close said he wrote the book because he wanted to “say it the way it was,” not as a black-and-white morality play. Mobutu,
Close said, had a tremendous opportunity to become a true leader to his people, the father of his country. Mobutu had
charisma, intelligence and power, political support internally and abroad and, initially, high intentions for himself and his
nation.
“Mobutu did some tremendous things, up until the early 70s,” Close said, “and he united a very disparate country and a very
Wyoming Library Roundup • Winter 2007
15
divided country with false frontiers
and money that spoke to the greed of
anybody that wanted to dig it.”
But instead of taking this opportunity,
Close wrote in the epilogue to Beyond
the Storm: “Then, buying and selling
loyalty, a soul-destroying thirst for
power and his ruthless
crushing of any man
who smeared his
image led him down
the road of self-defeat
and the destruction
of his country. His
abandonment toward the
end was complete and
utterly shattering to him.”
Close is the author of
several other books. He’s
perhaps best known as
the author of Ebola, a fictionalized
account of the first epidemic of that
dread disease; Close was involved with
the medical effort in an administrative
capacity. His book of autobiographical
essays, A Doctor’s Life, is used by
medical schools in discussions of
medical ethics. He has also written a
novel, Subversion of Trust, that pits a
rural doctor against a regional medical
center and an aggressive for-profit
HMO. He now publishes his books
through his own company, Meadowlark
Springs Productions LLC.
Close and his wife Tine live in the
home they built near Big Piney on a
hill with sweeping views. Still sparsely
populated, the area around their home
was much more isolated when they
moved to Wyoming in the 1970s. In
recent years, many more houses have
sprung up, and the view now includes
the sight of natural gas wells tapping
the rich Jonah Field.
The two have been married for more
than 60 years. The young William Close
and Bettine Moore met as teenagers
and became secretly engaged when they
were only 16. It was, Tine will tell you,
love at first sight. In 1943, at age 18,
Close announced to his father that he
16
Bill and Bettine at their
home in Big Piney,
Wyo., and a photo
from when they were
secretly engaged at
sixteen
was dropping out of Harvard, enlisting
in the Army Air Corps Cadets and
marrying Tine. After the war ended,
he came home to Tine and their ninemonth old daughter, Tina. Their second
daughter, the actor Glenn Close, soon
followed.
Both girls were under the age of three
when Close returned to college and
medical school. His grades had been
unexceptional at Harvard, and he had
to retake some courses before he gained
admittance to the Columbia College
of Physicians and Surgeons in New
York City. His father-in-law, Charles
A. Moore, had provided a letter of
recommendation:
“Dear Sir:
My son-in-law, William T. Close, wants
to become a doctor.
Personally, I have no use for the
profession. However, his determination
is such that I imagine he will make a
good one.”
In 1949, his sophomore year, their
newborn son, Duncan, died of an
undetected heart problem the day he
was supposed to come home from the
hospital. Two more children followed:
Alexander “Sandy” in 1950 and their
Wyoming Library Roundup • Winter 2007
youngest daughter, Jessie, in 1953.
After Jessie’s birth, the Closes became
involved in Moral Re-Armament
(MRA), a missionary movement. Close
describes his involvement with MRA as
“an incident…an unpleasant one.” They
joined, he said, in an effort to save their
marriage, which had been troubled since
Duncan’s death.
Nevertheless, it was MRA that took
him on a six-week mission to the
Belgian Congo in May 1960, just before
independence was declared on June 30.
Close was selected for his knowledge of
French and his medical skills.
Within a week of independence,
army units rebelled, chaos ensued, and
Belgian nationals, including doctors, fled
the country. When Close found out that
the 1,500-bed Hôspital des Congolais in
Leopoldville (now Kinshasa) was down
to only one surgeon, he made his way
through the violence in the streets to
the hospital.
Many months followed of treating
the victims of violence and poverty at
the hospital. No Congolese surgeons
had been trained to take over before
independence. The other surgeon, Dr.
Marcel Pirquin, had to leave in August,
leaving Close as the only surgeon and
one of only three doctors for the entire
hospital.
His long days at the hospital
earned the displeasure of his MRA
colleagues, beginning his break with the
organization. “The great opportunity
came to do what I was really committed
to: medicine, surgery, specifically,”
he said. “They didn’t like that. I was
supposed to preach. I’ve always thought
that the best way of preaching is to do
something constructive, and knock off
the moralizing.”
While working at the hospital, he was
asked to take on the dispensary of the
Congolese Army’s paracommando
battalion, where Colonel Mobutu
was chief of staff. The work mostly
involved routine shots of penicillin for
venereal diseases among the soldiers,
and he was able to continue his work at
the hospital. In 1961, he became chief
doctor of the Congolese Army. From
1964 until he left Africa in 1976, Close
was Mobutu’s personal physician.
Close’s relationship with Mobutu
enabled him to get the resources to
transform the Hôspital des Congolais
into a model of modern health care.
The hospital was properly cleaned,
repaired, equipped and staffed. It was
renamed Mama Yemo Hospital in
honor of Mobutu’s mother. From 19681976, Close was the president of the
board of directors of the 2,000-bed
Kinshasa General Hospital and head of
the National Health Council of Zaire.
While Close was in Africa, Tine and
the children were sometimes there
with him, depending on the security
situation, but more often in Switzerland
and their home in Connecticut. “She’s
been a fantastic, old-fashioned doctor’s
wife, he said, “where in a sense she was
the girders that kept the hospital office
standing. She actually used to take care
of a lot of little kids that were sicker
than hell in the paratrooper camp.” He
still regrets the amount of time he spent
away from his family, and says Tine was
the one who kept things together.
Close left Africa in 1976. Zaire was
in economic collapse, the Mobutu
regime was neck-deep in corruption and
Close’s relationship with the president
had become prickly – particularly when
he asked for funds for the hospital or
reminded Mobutu of what his mother
had said on her deathbed: “You must
love your people.” Close and Mobutu
were together at Mama Yemo’s death.
By this time, he had already failed this
task, and he knew it.
Corruption in Africa, Close said, is
open and widespread. “That is the
human element and the guiding element
behind the devastation in a country like
“Anybody can do most surgery,” he
said. “If you know a little anatomy and
can tie your shoes, you can do surgery.”
What matters is the act du presence.
He describes himself as a
“pathological optimist.” Despite myriad
pressures on young physicians, he sees
so many of them – particularly young
women – drawn to medicine as an act
of caring and as
an adventure.
He also
remains
optimistic
about
rebuilding
countries like
the Congo,
despite all.
From 1994 to 1996, he returned to
Kinshasa three times to rebuild and
re-equip the nine major operating
rooms and ancillary services, as well
as emergency services, at Mama
Yemo Hospital, which had suffered
from corruption and a total lack of
maintenance.
What will it take to rebuild the
Democratic Republic of the Congo?
“It’ll take time,” he said. “It’ll take some
more misery. It’ll take the building up
of a core of people in the professions
and in civil society that look at Mobutu’s
example and say no, we don’t want that.
“I’m hoping,” he said, “that in certain
areas, certain circles, the book will be
like a vaccine against the poison of
absolute power.”
“I’m hoping, that in certain
areas, certain circles, the
book will be like a vaccine
again st the poison of
absolute power.”
the Congo where in
the last four years, four million
people have died,” Close said.
“The country’s too wealthy. It has
coltan and copper and gold by the ton,
and all these strategic minerals like
molybdenum and strontium and stuff
to make fancy bullets with. If they
didn’t have that, people would leave
them alone and they’d work things out.”
He and Tine moved to Wyoming in
1977, where he has practiced medicine
(very limited these days) and written
ever since.
Close and his nurse Deanne Bradley
have set up the Community Home Care
Program, an organization that provides
in-home medical care to people who
need it in their rural area. In 2006,
the CHCP has provided comfort and
hospice care, medication assistance,
transportation for medical tests and
even help with household expenses.
The recipients are homebound and sick,
often with terminal or chronic illnesses.
Donations from the community defray
expenses, and Close and Bradley donate
their time. Time, to him, is the most
important element. He often talks about
the act du presence, the act of being
present in medicine, the act of listening
to what a patient most needs and wants.
Visit Dr. Close’s web site at www.
williamtclosemd.com/. His book is available
through major and local booksellers.
For signed copies, order directly from
Meadowlark Springs Productions through
the web site, or at P.O. Box 4460, Big Piney,
Wyoming 83113, 877-505-0774, susanl@
trib.com.
Wyoming Library Roundup • Winter 2007
17
What makes a good library great?
A strong foundation and some help from its friends.
Basic services at Wyoming’s public libraries are supported primarily by local tax dollars, but
private support – from Friends groups and Library Foundations – allow local libraries to go
beyond what tax dollars can provide.
Friends of the Library groups are the hands and feet of the library in the community. FOL
members are a core group of volunteers that raise funds and advocate for their libraries.
Friends of the Library groups even have a national organization, Friends of the Library
USA (FOLUSA), and the next National Friends of Libraries Week is planned for Oct. 21-27,
2007.
Library Foundations exist to raise private donations for library needs, typically on a larger
scale than a Friends group. Foundation board members are expected to cultivate donors and
secure major gifts.
Both Friends groups and Foundations are usually organized as registered 501(c)3 nonprofit
corporations, and donations to them are tax deductible as allowed by law.
Every county library in Wyoming has a Foundation and most have a Friends of the Library
group. Here are some examples from around the state of what Friends and Foundations
have done for their libraries.
Sheridan Friends of
the Library
The Sheridan Friends of the Library
auction is the longest-running fund
raiser of its kind in Sheridan County.
“And believe me,” said Nancy Garber,
FOL President, “when I say there are
many auction fund raisers in Sheridan
but none that compare.”
The Friends consistently host more
than 500 people at the silent auction.
The food is near-legendary: at least
120 volunteers bring hors d’oeuvres
and “desserts to die for.” The library is
transformed: bookshelves are covered
with table linens and decorations.
Four of the FOL’s 12 board members
organize the food; the other eight split
their efforts finding more than 160
18
items for the silent and live auctions.
“Businesses are approached on a daily
basis to give, give and give some more,”
Garber said. “About the time we think
they are tapped out, they show their
support for the library again.”
They consistently get more than 500
people at the auction who eat, drink,
mingle and then open their wallets for
a good cause. In the past four years, the
Sheridan FOL has averaged $42,000 per
event; since its inception 24 years ago,
more than $645,000 has been raised.
Auction funds have bought computers,
baby board books, furniture and books
for the collection – the last a critical
need in years when the budget was lean.
It’s a tremendous effort. But, Garber
said, “When a community has an
Wyoming Library Roundup • Winter 2007
outstanding asset such as the library,
a superb staff and a terrific director,
then we have no trouble keeping the
momentum alive.”
Johnson County
Friends of the
Library
Just to the south of Sheridan County,
a smaller (but still mighty) Friends
group lends a hand to the Johnson
County Library.
Johnson County FOL members run
the book sales, hold a Mother’s Day tea,
serve ice cream at the Johnson County
Fair, help with National Library Week,
bring in guest authors and provide an
“extra body” at the library on Sundays
in winter. The Friends take tickets and
provide a raffle item for the Library
Foundation’s annual auction, that raised
between $20,000 and $25,000 each year
from 2002 to 2005. The auction took
a breather in 2006, but will be back in
2007.
The Friends raise money for the things
that don’t make it into the budget:
among them, craft supplies, treats,
furniture and equipment. Lynnette
Durrant, FOL President, said, “In
many ways, we’ve enhanced programs
that would have happened anyway. For
instance, story hour would still happen,
but we’ve been able to purchase a
beautiful rug for the children to sit on.”
The Johnson County FOL has many
members, because the entry ticket
to the auction is also a membership.
About 15 volunteers form the most
active core of the group. One of those
is Jo Ann Palmer, who’s held every
officer position on the FOL board at
one time or another. “I like the feeling
of being part of such a great place,”
she said. “The library and the staff are
wonderful.
Palmer explained what knits the
Friends together: “I think all of us
share a love for reading. Most of us
are retired or ‘stay-at-home moms’ and
want to give back to a source that has
given us and our children so much.”
an $83,333 match from the Kresge
Foundation and putting it on track for
its long-term goal of building a $1.5
million endowment by 2015.
“It was right down to the wire,” said
Lisa Pischel, Library Board Chair and
Foundation Treasurer. “But we did
it with bake sales, raffles, bingo and
donations.”
The endowment was established
on April 10, 2000 to provide a stable
financial base in a volatile agricultureand minerals-based local economy.
Before the library’s campaign, Niobrara
County had a tradition of strong
civic involvement, but little history of
major fund raising. Although many
organizations compete for dollars, the
library has enjoyed good support.
“Everyone is eager to do what they
can to help,” Pischel said. “They do not
want to see the library close or reduce
its hours. We live in a small community,
and they love the library. It offers so
much more than books.”
Recently, the Niobrara County Library
Foundation received an anonymous
gift significant enough to rename their
children’s library as the Lennea Lewis
Slagle Children’s Library.
Pischel had one piece of advice for
other library fundraisers: “Start early
and take your vitamins! It is well worth
the effort.”
Niobrara County
Library Foundation Laramie County
At first glance, Niobrara County isn’t
Library Foundation
the first place you’d expect to find a
major endowment campaign. It’s the
smallest county in the state, with fewer
than 2,500 people and below-average
household incomes.
But on December 20, 2004, the
Niobrara County Library Foundation
met its goal of raising $250,000, earning
Laramie County Library System had
the misfortune of seeing construction
costs skyrocket just as they started
building their new state-of-the-art
central library in Cheyenne. One “extra”
after another had to be taken out of the
plans: $8 million worth.
They had the good fortune, however,
of having a strong library foundation to
pick up the slack. The Laramie County
Library Foundation has committed to
recapturing at least $3 million of those
library enhancements; so far they’ve
raised $1.2 million. The grand opening
for the library will be on Sept. 8, 2007.
“For the library building project,
we have had positive results from
every donor request,” said Mary
Meyer, Foundation Director. “Our
story is so compelling – what we
offer continuously for kids and adults
– to forward literacy, education and
knowledge while learning and having
fun.”
Items already back in the plans thanks
to donations are a radio frequency
identification (RFID) security system,
an innovative and interactive children’s
literacy center, colored glass walls in
the teen study rooms and glass railings
that open up amazing views inside the
library.
The Foundation also supports many
library programs that promote reading,
particularly for children and young
people: summer and winter reading,
Books for Babies and parent/child book
clubs. Summer Reading Celebration
alone is $10,000, and participation has
doubled in the past three years.
Meyer said her board members
appreciate the library, share a passion
for reading, have strong community
service backgrounds and are willing to
both ask for money and give their own.
The best part for Meyer is, “Success
results in so many opportunities for the
thousands of adults and children who
benefit from their experiences at the
library. The new building will allow us
to do even more.”
Wyoming Library Roundup • Winter 2007
19
Library legacies
The stories
behind
Wyoming’s
college and
university
libraries
Every name on a library building tells a story of
commitment, of people who gave of themselves so
that the library could flourish. In Wyoming, many of
the college and university libraries are named for people
who gave their time and wealth. Here are some of their
stories.
University of Wyoming
William Robertson Coe
Library, Laramie
By 1951, the University of Wyoming’s
library in the Aven Nelson building had
been overcrowded for years. The UW
trustees had a plan for a new one, but
the Wyoming Legislature denied the
$1.4 million in requested funding.
William Robertson Coe stepped into
the breach with a $1.2 million donation
for the new library and for a School of
American Studies Department to reside
in the library building. Coe was born in
1869 in Worcestershire, England. His
family arrived in the United States when
he was 14 years old, and he promptly
found employment as an office boy for
20
“The Talisman,” a sculpture located outside the Casper
College Goodstein Foundation Library and donated by
Babe Goodstein to the college.
Wyoming Library Roundup • Winter 2007
the Philadelphia marine insurance firm
Johnson & Higgins, where he made his
fortune. In 1910 he purchased Buffalo
Bill Cody’s Irma Lake Lodge ranch
outside of Cody, sparking his interest in
Western history and literature.
Coe was a staunch anti-communist
whose political views were the driving
force behind his generous donation.
Both the library and the American
Studies program were, to him, a positive
and affirmative answer to the dangers
of communism and socialism.
Construction began on the Coe
Library in 1956, and the official
dedication was held Oct. 9, 1958. The
new building greatly expanded library
capacity with seating for 900 students
and room for half a million books.
W.R. Coe didn’t live to see the building
open. He died in 1955 at the age of 85,
having amassed a considerable fortune.
He made further provisions for UW in
his bequests. The total of all his gifts
to the University of Wyoming totaled
approximately $4 million between
1951 and 1961 – the largest that the
university had ever been given at that
time.
establish the college library, which was
dedicated on September 24, 1967. Babe
donated a sculputure for the college
that raised a few eyebrows. Called “The
Talisman,” this piece by noted sculptor
Jason Seley was a free-form abstract
piece made of automobile bumpers.
Today the sculpture stands just outside
the campus entrance.
In 1973, Fred and Babe Goodstein
donated $1 million– at the time,
the largest gift made to a Wyoming
community college – to build facilities
that would elevate Casper College to a
four-year applied science status. Some
of the funds were used to expand the
Goodstein Library.
Fred and Babe Goodstein were
unabashed boosters for Casper and
donated to many other charitable causes
there. The Goodstein Foundation
they established stands at more than
$5 million and provides funds for
education, health and churches in
Casper and Denver.
Casper College Goodstein
Foundation Library,
Casper
Randy Ludden began his college
career at Laramie County Community
College in 1971 when the fledgling
campus had only three buildings. His
wife, Yvonne also got her start at a
community college before the two met
at the University of Wyoming.
His sophomore year at LCCC he
was elected student body president.
He managed to get the school colors
changed from green and yellow to blue
and gold, and he suggested adopting the
golden eagle as the mascot. The college
didn’t have an athletics program at the
time, but Ludden thought it would add
some “pizzazz” when the college would
grow and have athletics in the future.
Fred Goodstein turned scrap metal
into a fortune. He got his start salvaging
abandoned mines with his father in
Colorado. He entered the petroleum
business initially by salvaging scrap
from the oil fields. By the time he died
in 1983 at the age of 86, his oil and gas
ventures were worth an estimated $400
million.
Although Fred Goodstein only
completed high school, he was a
generous donor to Casper College.
The Goodsteins donated the funds to
Laramie County
Community College
Ludden Library, Cheyenne
With his associate’s in business from
the college and a bachelor’s in finance
from UW, Randy was hired by Shell
Oil in Houston, Texas, where he has
made his living primarily negotiating
petroleum trades. His wife is an
educator, working for the Katy School
District. Ludden credits his success to
the start he got at LCCC.
In 2006, the Luddens made a generous
financial commitment to the college
library through the Matching the Spirit
campaign. In their honor, Laramie
County Community College has
dedicated the library as the Randall W.
and Yvonne D. Ludden Library.
Northwest College John
Taggart Hinckley Library,
Powell
A year after Northwest College was
formed, John Taggart Hinckley formed
the college’s first library with a shelf of
15 books in his office.
At the time, Hinckley was a newly
appointed professor of Political Science
and History at the fledgling college,
fresh out of the University of Wyoming
with his master’s degree. He taught at
NWC until his retirement in 1980, when
he was made a professor emeritus.
The library bears Hinckley’s name
not because of a gift of money, but
because of his many contributions
to the college and his high regard for
libraries. As NWC and its library grew,
Hinckley supported it at every step.
When the first shelf overflowed, he
talked the public library into housing
the collection. In 1957, when the library
got its own room in the newly built
Orendorff Building, Hinckley and his
students physically moved the collection
– at that time, more than a thousand
books. In 1983, Northwest College
Continued on page 24.
Wyoming Library Roundup • Winter 2007
21
bookshelf
Beyond the Storm: Treating the Powerless & the Powerful in
Mobutu’s Congo/Zaire
by William T. Close, M.D. with Dr. Malonga Miatudila
2007. Marbleton, WY: Meadowlark Springs Productions. 343 p.
ISBN-13: 978-0-9703371-4-6. $25.95.
FOR WYOMING READERS
Dr. William Close, a Wyoming physician, outlines his journey from high
school through his unintended experiences in the Congo. Beyond the Storm
offers levels of tales starting with the dedication of young love, the sometimes
opposing goals of career and family, the effects of long absences on children
and marriage and into the misdirection of missionary zeal, the blood and guts
effort of front line medicine and the facilitating objectives of administrative
passion. Dr. Close chronicles the rise of Mobutu, a man of and from the people,
a visionary whose culture and unchecked power leads to the economic collapse
of a once progressive country. Corruption and greed combined with misdirected
international forces take Zaire, transformed from the Congo, from great potential into the misery of
chaos. Dr. Close reveals the rewards and frustrations of practicing medicine and attempting to make a
difference in the quality of lives without a sugar coated spin. Parallels in management, economics and the
power of driven people can be applied to current world conflicts, organization behavior and individual
choices. I am struck, again by the beauty and wisdom of our constitution, its authors and the strength of a
democratic government that values individual rights and freedoms. The book unveils the reality behind the
saying, “Power corrupts,” and the effects of unbridled greed on individuals, organizations, on a culture, a
country and the ripple effect of one country’s choices throughout the world. Bravo, Dr. Close!
Cindy Moore ILL/Reference
Sweetwater County Library, Green River
Andrew Carnegie
by David Nasaw
2006. New York: Penguin Press. 878 p.
ISBN-10: 1594201048 ISBN-13: 978-1594201042. $35.00
Andrew Carnegie, a biography written by David Nasaw, is a richly detailed
biography of one of the greatest Americans of all time. It details Carnegie’s little
known early life, then moves on through his entire career- home life, educational
insights, and financial achievements. Born into a low-income family, Carnegie
was truly a self-made man. He worked his entire life and truly lived the American
Dream to its fullest, as Nasaw deftly highlights. Through the insights presented
the biography takes the readers on a journey through Carnegie’s life. We see his
time at school, which eventually led to his creation of the Carnegie Foundation
for Education, which benefited millions. We also see into his private life, and into
his deepest secrets. Nasaw gives us a beautiful portrait through his use of the
English language and through his exhaustive research. The insights presented in
this biography are detailed to the highest degree: Nasaw delivers an amazing portrait
of Carnegie in ways most readers will enjoy. The reading of this book was an incredible experience that
anyone would be excited to enjoy. Personally, I would highly recommend this book for both its reading
enjoyment and historical value.
Ellen Hubenthal, Children’s Page
Albany County. Public Library, Laramie
22
Wyoming Library Roundup • Winter 2007
bookshelf
The Greater Good
by Claire Gaudiani
2004 ©2003. New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1st Owl Books ed. 304 p.
ISBN-10: 0805076921 ISBN-13: 978-0805076929. $16.00. pbk.
Claire Gaudiani, a senior research scholar at the Yale Law School, has developed a factual and
insightful book on the benefits of democratic capitalism and how helping our fellow men to
build their own wealth has been achieved in America. She carefully details the growth of our
country and how philanthropy has been an integral and essential part of that growth. Gaudiani
states, “Human capital—along with its sister term, social capital—has become a fundamental
concept of modern economic theory.”
Gaudiani explains the three major areas of capital investments and gives specific examples,
such as John Hopkins Hospital, Habitat for Humanity, Netscape and many others. A strong case
is built for increasing philanthropy to build stronger communities and empower more individuals to
become successful, increasing economic and political growth as well as self-respect.
America has grown due to its unique belief in upward mobility and the generous sharing spirit of those who came
before. We need to continue this tradition of encouraging new ideas to solve our social problems. Individuals can
implement change faster than funding systems, corporations, and/or government. The Greater Good details several
courses of positive action to keep our economy growing strongly into the future.
Gaudiani feels that philanthropy is America’s secret weapon and it can be gauged from church attendance and social
involvement as described by Robert Putnam in his book Bowling Alone. Our children are our future and they need to
be encouraged to build their own personal wealth and to encourage others to do the same.
Mary Wendel, President
Fremont County Library Foundation, Lander
The Giving Family
by Susan Crites Price
2003. Washington, DC: Council on Foundations. 119 p.
ISBN-10: 0913892998. ISBN-13: 978-0913892992. $19.95.
The author’s main point is to teach adults how to be role models to children mentoring them
and teaching them how to recognize and practice charity. Ms. Price includes examples of how
parents can do this by allowing children to decide what to support, teaching them money
management and praising them for giving.
I found this book very informative. The author gives numerous examples of activities and
“tips” that reinforce giving. These activities teach children how to give their time, talents and
money to people and causes they care about. It will help them become more giving adults.
There are real-life stories. One I found especially interesting is about a 14-year-old girl who
helped distribute school supplies to needy children. She said “seeing people in need made me realize that these
people are no different than you and me. The thought that I was somehow better than these people made me sick to
my stomach. I am certain I will never look at things the same way ever again. I will see people with an open mind and
an open heart”.
The book ends with resources, including a list of children‘s books with philanthropy themes, a list of volunteering
opportunities, and education.
“You make a living by what you get. You make a life by what you give.”
Deb Kelly, Assistant Librarian
Northwest College John Taggart Hinckley Library, Powell
Wyoming Library Roundup • Winter 2007
23
Library legacies, cont.
opened a 21,000 square foot library
building and named it in Hinckley’s
honor.
John Taggart Hinckley died in 1997.
His wife, Ann Hinckley, is still seen
frequently at the library and is active in
community organizations.
In recent years, the library has started
observing his birthday each year.
Because it is on May 18 when they’re
usually not in session, the occasion is
marked during National Library Week
in April with cake and celebratory
comments on his life. The library name
and the annual event commemorate the
life of a man who did so much to build
up Northwest College and its library.
Sheridan College Griffith
Memorial Library,
Sheridan
Vernon and Rowena Griffith were
both just barely older than the city of
Sheridan, Wyoming, where they made
their home and left their legacy.
Young Vernon Griffith worked briefly
as a pharmacist and dabbled in cattle
throughout his life, but his fortune
would be made in wool. In 1906, he
made his first purchase of sheep and
joined the Wyoming Wool Growers’
Association.
He married Rowena Maud Whittier,
a well-educated schoolteacher
from Wisconsin, in 1909. The two
homesteaded in Sheridan County. From
their Rock Ridge Ranch on Buffalo
Creek the two built a virtual sheep
empire, going from 160 acres to 40,000.
Even into his 60s, he ran more than
7,000 head of sheep a year.
The Griffiths had no children of
their own, but they chose to give to
numerous charities that benefited
youth and young adults. When they
24
died in the mid-1970s, their wealth
went to the Vernon S. and Rowena W.
Griffith Foundation, which still benefits
Sheridan County.
Sheridan College received many
gifts from the Griffiths, both during
their lives and through their bequests.
In 1981, the college opened its new
instructional resource center in the
recently built Vernon S. and Rowena W.
Griffith Memorial Building, named for
the two who had given so much to their
community and to the college.
Western Wyoming College
Hay Library, Rock Springs
In the entrance of Western Wyoming
Community College’s library is a plaque
whose inscription begins: “Named in
honor of Mr. and Mrs. John Hay Jr.,
distinguished citizens of Rock Springs
and beneficent supporters of Western
Wyoming College.”
John Hay was a founding member
of the Western Wyoming College
Foundation Board in 1968 and served
as Foundation President for 16 years.
He also served on the college’s Board
of Trustees from 1968 to 1971.
Through his efforts, the college received
its largest endowment to date.
Frances Hay has generously donated
her time to the college’s learning center,
tutoring foreign students in English, and
helping them get their GED certificates
and United States Citizenship. Not only
has she tutored exceptionally, but she
has trained other tutors.
The Hays have made numerous
significant donations to the WWC
Foundation and have been enthusiastic
supporters of the college’s fine arts
programs. The Hay Library honors the
many contributions they have made to
the college.
Wyoming Library Roundup • Winter 2007
Fun facts about philanthropy:
Did you know?
In 2005, individuals, corporations and
foundations gave $260 billion in charitable
contributions to nonprofit organizations.
In 2005, 29% of Americans volunteered
through a formal organization.
More than one third of all private
contributions were given to religious
organizations in 2005. Education, of
which libraries are a component, was a
strong second receiving 15% of total
charitable contributions.
Assets accumulated in Wyoming’s private
charitable foundations have now topped $1
billion.
In 2003 Wyoming’s charitable nonprofits
received $659,100,152 as reported to the
IRS by the 770 reporting organizations. In
2005, 1,557 nonprofits reported receiving
$1,695,084,234 which is a 157% increase in
two years.
In 2003, the Adjusted Gross Income
of itemized tax returns from Wyoming
(44,659 out of 240,998 total returns)
totaled $11,092,479,000. Those
households itemized $280,154,000 in
charitable deductions.
The average AGI of all itemized returns
from Wyoming was $46,027, very near
the national average of $47,425. But the
average contribution of itemizers from
Wyoming was $6,273, almost two times the
national average of $3,283.
New Tithing Group, an organization
encouraging Americans to give a higher
percentage of their investment assets,
as opposed to gifts from income, lists
Wyoming as the sixth most generous state
in the nation. Wyoming’s residents give, on
average, .86% of their investment assets to
charitable organizations.
Information courtesy of the Wyoming
Community Foundation, www.wycf.org
.
Book sales around the state
Albany County Public
Library, Laramie
First full week in November, 20-hour
sale around tax time, sales during Jubilee
Days and Book Bash @ the Park.
Big Horn County Library,
Basin
Next annual sale summer 2007. Some
items for sale year-round.
Campbell County Public
Library System, Gillette
Annual, week-long sale, usually in the
fall, although 2007 sale was held in early
spring.
Carbon County Library
System, Rawlins
Annual sales at the main library
in Rawlins and at branches in Elk
Mountain, Encampment, Hanna, Baggs,
Medicine Bow, Saratoga and Sinclair.
Next sale in Rawlins in August 2007;
contact branches for their sale dates.
Converse County Library,
Douglas
Next annual sales: Glenrock Branch,
August 2007; Douglas, first or second
week of October 2007.
Crook County Public
Library, Sundance
Next annual sale late October 2007.
Fremont County Public
Library System, Lander
Twice each month at main library
in Lander, monthly at Riverton and
Dubois branches.
Goshen County Library,
Torrington
Twice each year in April and October.
Upcoming sale dates: April 14, 16-21,
box sale 23-28; Oct 6, 8-13 and 15-20.
Library System, Sheridan
Hot Springs County
Library, Thermopolis
Sublette County Library,
Pinedale
Annually in the spring. 2007 sale held
on March 24.
Johnson County Library,
Buffalo
Year-round book cart sale at main
library in Sheridan during open hours.
Annually in July or August.
Sweetwater County Library
System, Green River
Two to three sales per year, depending
on inventory. Contact library for dates.
At least once annually in the fall at
White Mountain Library in Rock
Springs. Next sale October 2007.
Laramie County Library
System, Cheyenne
Teton County Library,
Jackson
Twice annually in spring and fall. Next
sale dates: May 4-6, 2007.
Lincoln County Library
System, Kemmerer
Annually in April. Next sale dates: April
25-28, 2007.
Natrona County Public
Library, Casper
Twice annually, week-long sale in
March, weekend sale in October.
Niobrara County Library,
Lusk
Annually during Alumni Reunion. Next
sale date: June 23, 2007.
Twice a year in May and October. Next
sale dates: May 17-20, 2007, October
2007 TBA.
Uinta County Library,
Evanston
Twice annually in April during National
Library Week and in October. Next sale
dates: April 20-21, 2007.
Washakie County Library,
Worland
Annual sale during CultureFest
community celebration, usually in early
June, plus ongoing sale year-round in
library.
Weston County Library,
Park County Library, Cody Newcastle
At main library in Cody, sales held
monthly in winter, more often in
summer. Next dates: April 7 and May 5,
2007, 10 am-2 pm each date. Monthly
sales at Powell Branch, usually on first
Saturday of the month. Ongoing sale at
Meeteetse.
At least one sale annually during
National Library Week in April.
Check with your local library for
specific dates. Or, find other book sales
near you at www.booksalefinder.com.
Sheridan County Public
Wyoming Library Roundup • Winter 2007
25
Libraries great place to find funds
Looking for grant money? To learn where to find it and how to get it, some of the best resources available are Foundation
Center Cooperating Collections located in Wyoming’s libraries.
The Foundation Center provides current information on grant makers, and tools and resources for grant seekers. Among its
best-known products are directories and databases listing tens of thousands of funders nationally.
The Foundation Center has a network of 300 Cooperating Collections where this funding information is available for free.
Four are located in Wyoming:
• Laramie County Community College Ludden Library in Cheyenne
• Campbell County Public Library in Gillette
• Teton County Library in Jackson
• Sheridan County Fulmer Public Library in Sheridan.
Each location has a core collection of searchable directories and databases and how-to guides for nonprofits. Patrons can get
one-on-one help on how to use the collections from library staff.
Sheridan County Library Director Cathy Butler said theirs is used by community members, nonprofits and service groups.
“Sheridan County has hundreds of nonprofit organizations,” she said. “This is a valuable resource for potential funding.” The
library offers classes from time to time on using the collection.
The Ludden Library has participated in the program since 1973. Paula Munoz, reference librarian said it is primarily used
by staff from nonprofit organizations, “although there are some resources for individuals looking for educational or research
support.”
“The online directory [database] helps locate charitable foundations whose interests match up with the nonprofit group’s
needs,” she explained. “For instance, the local animal shelter could search for foundations that are interested in animal welfare
or animal rescue. Our security officer is interested in grants that might help fund better lighting and security systems for the
campus.”
Listings can indicate what a particular foundation will and will not fund, where it will fund projects, what its main interests
are and where and when to send a proposal.
The Foundation Center’s database is for in-library use only. Those wanting to use the collections have to physically go the
library, although they are welcome to download their search results on disk to take home. However all of them provide classes
and individual training on how to use the collection.
“We always help people get started, but our patrons are so accustomed to the product that they just come in and use it on
their own,” Lalia Jagers, reference service specialist at Campbell County Public Library.
Paula Munoz at LCCC’s Ludden Library said these resources are important to her community: “It connects people to grant
funding sources that they might not otherwise know about.”
She added, “And, of course, we provide the materials and the assistance for free.”
For more information about the Foundation Center and its Cooperating Collection program, visit www.foundationcenter.org.
http://will.state.wy.us/roundup
The Wyoming Library Roundup is a quarterly publication of the Wyoming State Library, the Wyoming
Library Association and the Wyoming Center for the Book. If you would like to continue to be on our
mailing list, if your address has an error that needs correction or you know of someone who would like
their name added or you would like your name removed from our mailing list, please send your request to:
Wyoming State Library, Publications and Marketing Office, 516 South Greeley Hwy., Cheyenne, WY 82002.
Library
Wyoming
Roundup
Wyoming State Library
516 South Greeley Hwy.
Cheyenne, WY 82002
Wyoming Library Roundup • Winter 2007
Presorted
Standard
U.S. Postage
PAID
Cheyenne, WY
Permit. No. 7