91´«Ã½

CHICAGO — The Cedar Park (Texas) Public Library is the 2014 winner of the prestigious Gale Cengage Learning Financial Development Award. The award is presented annually to a library organization for exhibiting meritorious achievements in carrying out a project to secure new funding resources for a public or academic library.

Cedar Park Public Library developed Fable Fest an annual fundraising festival, organized by the Cedar Park Public Library Foundation, that includes arts & crafts, costume characters, demonstrations, performances and activities. The 2013 festival had 7,500 attendees and raised $21,000 for the Cedar Park Library. The Cedar Park Library Foundation has provided financial support over the years to the Cedar Park Public Library for early literacy programs, an annual summer reading program and technology resources. In a community with many young families, the library’s youth programs are a valuable and popular source of early literacy support.

“The Cedar Park Public Library demonstrated the kind of community collaboration required to develop new and innovative fund raising initiative that replaced an existing funding source and engaged the community. The jury the Fable Fest exemplified the type of initiative that exemplified the Gale Cengage Award Learning Financial Development Award”, noted jury Chair Liz Bishoff.

From 2002 to 2012, the Cedar Park Public Library Foundation was recipient of the Dell Foundation’s Literate Community Grant. With a change in their corporate giving the Library Foundation had to develop other fundraising opportunities to support the Library’s enrichment program and technology needs. The 2009 Fable Fest event raised $2,428.22, each subsequent year the Library Foundation sought to increase the sponsorship and attendance. For the 2013 Fable Fest, the Cedar Park Public Library and the Cedar Park Public Library Foundation raised $21,037, a 20-percent increase over the previous year. To realize this goal, the Fable Fest Launch Party was co-sponsored by the Cedar Park Chamber of Commerce and the Cedar Park Public Library Foundation, which local businesses and organizations were invited to attend.

Members of the 2014 Gale Cengage Learning Financial Development Award jury were Liz Bishoff, chair, The Bishoff LLC; Barbara Bard, Coastal Carolina University; Dani Porter-Lansky, Florida Atlantic University; Jane Tuten, University of South Carolina-Aiken; Joyce C. Wright, University of Illinois @ Urbana-Champaign.

The Gale Cengage Learning Financial Development Award will be presented at the 91´«Ã½ Award Ceremony and Reception on Sunday, June 29^th at the 91´«Ã½ Annual Conference in Las Vegas. More information about the including how to submit a nomination is available on the 91´«Ã½ website.