If you have ever applied for a grant with the Tocker Foundation, you know a local authority must sign off on the agreement below or you cannot submit the application.
“It is agreed that local funding for this library will not be diminished, curtailed or cut in any way as a result of awarding this grant.”
This clause protects libraries from funding cuts. Some governing entities assert that a grant for the library means they can reduce funding accordingly. In reality, most rural libraries operate on a shoe-string budget. Hard-working librarians pursue grants to maintain the programs and services that patrons expect or add exciting new offerings that would not otherwise be possible.
This protection works. Just ask Carol Deviney at the Martindale Community Library. During a recent city council meeting Carol invoked that clause when one of the council members claimed that the library didn’t need the same amount as last year because the librarian was going after grants. Carol replied that she would be forced to withdraw her grant application if funding was diminished as outlined in this agreement. She explains what happened next.
“The council member’s line of reasoning was dropped at that point. Thank you all [Tocker Foundation] for thinking ahead. You saved me last night.”
It wasn’t the Foundation that saved the library. It was the dedicated librarian who advocated for her community’s library and won.
Way to go, Carol!