Hastings Memorial Library receives $10,000 grant from Kreutz Bennett Donor-Advised Fund
Hastings Memorial Library has been selected to receive a $10,000 grant from the Kreutz Bennet Donor-Advised Fund, an affiliated fund of Nebraska Community Foundation, to establish a permanent Makerspace in the library. Hastings Memorial Library is among fourteen Nebraska public libraries in communities with populations under 3,000 selected to receive funding.
From November 2019 to March 2020, the library hosted a temporary makerspace through a separate grant facilitated by the Nebraska Library Commission. The Library Innovation Studios: Transforming Rural Communities project, was part of a National Leadership Grant received from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). Communities across the state had the opportunity to host makerspace equipment in their libraries before the makerspace rotated to another location.
“After having the makerspace equipment through the Innovation Studio grant and seeing the reactions of and usage from community members, we realized the ongoing benefits a makerspace would provide for the community and wanted to make it a permanent feature in the library,” said Library Director Robin Quinn. “We knew that the Kreutz Bennett Donor-Advised Fund had the potential to help us meet those goals and are thrilled to have the opportunity to bring this dream to fruition.
All grants from the Kreutz Bennett Donor-Advised Fund require a 1:1 local match, which brings the total project amount to $20,000. $5,500 in the additional matching funds have already been pledged in the community including donations from the Hastings Memorial Library Foundation, the Delores Sides memorial fund, the Xi Gamma chapter of Beta Sigma Phi sorority, and a donation from the Bayer Fund’s America’s Farmers Grow Communities on behalf of Alicia Patrick. Additional donations may be made to the Hastings Memorial Library Foundation. Please contact the library at (308) 352-4894 for more information about how you can help raise the additional $4,400 to reach the $10,000 match goal.
The Kreutz Bennett Donor-Advised Fund was established in 2010 by the estate of Shirley Kreutz Bennett. A life-long learner, Kreutz Bennett graduated from Harvard High School in 1941, earned a BA from the University of Washington, Seattle, plus an MA and PhD from Columbia University, New York. Shirley was a retired Professor of Education at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln.
In accordance with Kreutz Bennett’s wishes, a Fund Advisory Committee composed of her nieces and nephews recommends grants in three areas: planning for accreditation grants to support steps taken toward gaining accreditation; enhancement grants to improve library services; and facilities grants for new construction or the renovation, restoration or rehabilitation of current libraries.
In total, the Fund has had an over $665,000 impact on Greater Nebraska communities with populations under 3,000 and dozens of public libraries across the state.