For the Books

Without question, inquisitive little minds growing up in East Bend will benefit from a new library. The old one is housed in a ramshackle old building, and much of the material inside predates its young patrons.

But Yadkin County has long been known for fiscal conservatism that borders on the austere, so the dreamers behind a new library realized early on that they would have no luck asking for tax money or even support for bonds.

Rather than sulking or giving up, supporters got busy practicing the self-reliance they had been taught growing up country. One bake sale and chicken dinner at a time, they started raising money — enough to where they are preparing to break ground on the new $850,000 library early next month.

The work of the East Bend Public Library Committee is mom-and-pop stuff compared to the $40 million plan to build a new library in downtown Winston-Salem and expand branches in Clemmons and Kernersville. Forsyth County taxpayers will vote on that measure Tuesday.

It’s a far cry from East Bend, where there is a valuable lesson: Good things come to those who help themselves.

Little engine that could

After a handful of locals got to thinking about how much they could use a new library, friends and backers formed a formal organization, the East Bend Public Library Committee, in 2004 and registered as a 501-C nonprofit with the N.C. Secretary of State’s Office in 2005.

They dug into their own pockets to donate a little seed money and started planning. They needed to build grassroots’ support and find suitable land. They would need a solid core of dedicated volunteers to see them through a long haul, and they wanted to be able to show tangible progress.

They would need close to $850,000 to plan, build and equip a 6,685-square foot-library — a daunting challenge, but attainable.

“It was 2007 before we gained much momentum,” said Mary Sue Johnson, the president of the committee and a retired principal. “We only had $22,000 in the bank by June.”

Fate intervened in the form of Jack and Anne Adams, a Yadkin County couple who donated 1½ acres on Flint Hill Road. “That set everything on a good note, and the ball started rolling,” Johnson said.

Fundraising picked up. Bake sales, chicken dinners and old-fashioned mud-bog competitions fattened the bank account. One of those mud bogs held in the spring caught my eye, and I wrote a column; over the summer, the committee raised enough to start building.

Private foundations have taken notice of the committee’s work. The Reynolds American Foundation set up a $37,500 challenge grant this summer, and an anonymous foundation stepped up with a pledge for another matching grant of at least $50,000.

“I think the foundations helped us because they saw that we were helping ourselves,” Johnson said.

The committee succeeded, and the foundations stepped up big. The anonymous group — later identified as the Mebane Charitable Foundation — came through with $125,000, half now and half in January. Elated, the group announced a public groundbreaking for Nov. 7.

“We’re so happy,” Anne Adams said. “It’s something everybody in the community worked for.”

Good example to follow

Even though the committee has secured enough to pay the contractor — it has raised close to $700,000 so far, money to pay architects and contractors — its members still have work to do. They need to come up with another $150,000 for furnishings, computers, landscaping, and a backup for the septic system.

That’s a lot, but supporters are confident that they can pull it off.

Members of the committee secured a bank loan for some expenses, but they are hoping that they don’t have to touch that money. And the folks at the Mebane Foundation have agreed to provide another $25,000 matching grant for technology.

“I must admit that while I had supported the project financially, I had some serious doubts that we would ever pull it off when I became a member of the board,” said Joel Cornelius, a former county commissioner. “But this group never accepted no for an answer or any type of setback with anything other than falling right back into the collar and plowing straight ahead.”

If the $40-million bond referendum on the ballot Tuesday here in Forsyth County goes down, its supporters might learn a thing or two from the folks in East Bend: A well-thought-out plan and a healthy measure of sweat equity go a long way toward securing widespread public support.

ssexton@wsjournal.com

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