Board Invests in Future of Belington Public Library

November 6, 2015 – Patrons of the Belington Public Library and the community at large will benefit from an agency endowed fund recently created by the Library Board of Directors.  Investments from the fund will provide perpetual funding for the library.

The Belington Public Library serves southern Barbour County with books, e-books, public internet services, an extensive genealogy department, and a multitude of other public services. The library struggles to secure funding each year, both in order to maintain its collections and facilities and to protect them against possible damage from flooding of the Tygart Valley River.

Since the Flood of ’85, we have wanted to move the Belington Public Library out of the flood plain to protect its facilities and collection. Endowing a fund with Tucker Community Foundation is the best way we have found to make that happen. Joel Wolpert President, Belington Public Library Board of Trustees

Agency-endowed funds enable nonprofit organizations to support their work in perpetuity. By establishing an agency endowment fund with Tucker Community Foundation, the Belington Public Library will benefit from investment expertise and administrative support services. Agency endowments are flexible; deposits and donations to the fund can be made at any time and can include assets such as stock and real property.

The Foundation can provide regular distributions to the designated charity or hold the income until distributions are requested, track and acknowledge donations with a tax receipt and upon request provide quarterly statements of the fund’s activity to the organization.

Agency endowments are ideal for organizations that are interested in creating permanent support for their mission, have a healthy operating budget with resources in reserve, have a broad base of support, are stable and have a plan for long term sustainability, and have donors who share in the vision of the organizations and want to support it in perpetuity.

Librarian Tammy Smith, and the Belington “Bookaneers” have been very active in the Run For It program.  Since 2009 the team has raised more than $74,000 and emerged as a top contender in the program.  I expect their efforts will continue to bode well for the fund and the future of this essential community service. Diane Hinkle, TCF Development Director.

Donations to the Belington Public Library Fund from the general public should be made payable to Tucker Community Foundation, PO Box 491, Parsons, WV  26287 memo: BPLF.  Tucker Community Foundation serves eight counties throughout the High Allegheny region.  For more information, contact the Tucker Community Foundation office at 304-259-5008.