Dear Friends of American University Library:

In this third annual report, I am pleased to report very good news about the past year’s activities and current status of Friends of American University Library. During the past year our Friends organization has sponsored a number of successful events in keeping with our goal of bringing together people who enjoy the life of books and the mind. And thanks to an unprecedented growth in membership and financial donations, we are continuing to make an important contribution to the growth, quality, and strength of our University Library.

This sum of $269,800 consists of small, medium, and large gifts. It is important to note that 1089 persons made gifts of $1-500 totaling $45,868. Equally important, 30 persons made gifts over $500 totaling $223,952. Six gifts of over $5000 were made by the Bender Foundation, Roger and Nancy Brown, Beryl Clegg, Sam and Lucy Keker, Betty Ann Leith, and the AU Student Confederation. Every gift, small, medium or large, helps the library advance its mission and for all these gifts we are most grateful.

Imagine 1,121 Friends and $269,800-those are two terrific numbers. They offer testimony to how much parents, alumni, neighbors, students, and faculty understand and appreciate the key role played by a library in the life of a university. A strong library is indispensable to the health of any university; these gifts - your gifts - have helped and are helping enormously to make this vital center of our university strong and effective.

As in previous years, donations to the library are primarily used for collection-building and enhancement. This means improving the books, periodicals, non-print, and technological resources of the library. Depending on the wishes of the donors, some large gifts are placed in endowed funds the income of which is used for the support, increase, and improvement of the collections over the long-term. There are currently 11 endowed funds, some dating to the 1980s. The most recent endowed funds include the Roger H. Brown (Anthon) Endowment, the Samuel and Lucy Keker Library Fund, the Roger and Nancy Brown Library Fund, and the Student Endowment for the Library.

Thanks to annual donations and income from endowments, the library now has available funds for the increase, maintenance, and improvement of library collections over and above the amount annually budgeted for these purposes by the university administration. This means an increased ability to make special purchases for collection enhancement that otherwise might not have been possible. For example, from the funds raised in 2002-2003 the library has purchased the Evans Digital Edition of Early American Imprints, an incomparable and comprehensive database collection of print materials published in America from 1639 to 1800. The collection includes over 36,000 pamphlets, broadsides, sermons, orations, and other texts. These materials will soon be available online to members of the AU community. Previously this collection was available to libraries only in microfiche and was very cumbersome to use. AU will be one of the first universities to acquire this collection in digital form.

One of the hard realities of library management is that costs for collection-related resources continue to spiral at a rapid rate. During the past several years, costs for buying and replacing books and periodicals, repairing books and periodicals, cataloging books, and acquiring new non-print resources increased at an annual rate of 10-20%. This is much faster than the annual rate of inflation and much faster than the library budget is increased annually by the university. It is at this crucial point, where the library needs additional funds to meet increasing costs for collections development, that the contributions made by Friends play a most crucial role.

Two Celebrating Scholarship events were held to honor AU faculty who had recently published new books. Both events drew full-capacity crowds and featured short presentations by faculty authors about their books followed by general discussion. During alumni weekend in the fall, Friends also sponsored a hands-on instructional session on “Navigating the World Wide Web" conducted by library staff member Mike Tosko. During Homecoming/Reunion Weekend, Friends and the Helen Kettler Society cosponsored a tea to honor several persons who had made bequests to the university in their wills.

One of the year’s highlight events was the recent Friends-sponsored theater outing to see the Round House Theatre’s production of “Underneath the Lintel,” a one-man play about a librarian, a long-overdue book, and the quest for locating the borrower. Thirty-seven Friends and their guests attended the play, which starred artistic director/actor Jerry Whiddon, at the Round House Theatre’s newly opened blackbox venue in Silver Spring, Maryland. Afterwards, we adjourned to the nearby Tastee Diner, a Washington landmark, for wine and dinner. This event formed a suitable occasion to say “thank you” to some of our most generous donors who were invited guests of honor. The occasion was sponsored by Don and Gail Brenner and an anonymous donor.

Another substantial asset is an in-house, action-forcing master calendar of annual events, key dates, mailing schedule, etc., which helps greatly to regularize the administration of Friends internally.

Much of the planning and organization relating to outreach and membership programs is the work of two standing committees: Programs and Publicity chaired by librarian Jim Heintze, and Membership and Development chaired by adjunct professor and AU alumnus Don Hester. These committees and their chairs have contributed enormously to the progress of Friends, and we are deeply grateful to them. Thanks to their efforts, Friends has a well-developed, accessible Web site, which displays a schedule of upcoming events, reports to the membership, information on joining Friends, and an application form for membership.

Three other administration-related achievements deserve notice. First, with the help of University designers, the Membership and Development committee has produced a handsome new brochure with which to advertise the library and the opportunities for giving to it. Second, during fall of 2002, the Steering Committee completed and adopted a comprehensive statement that makes the case for why a strong library is vital to the university and why donations to the library are needed. And third, thanks to University Librarian Pat Wand, and Vice President of Development Al Checcio, we now have a full-time library development coordinator in the person of Julie Darnell in whose capable hands now rests the day-to-day coordination and administration of our organization and its activities.

Thus, in terms of increased membership, increased giving, and varied program outreach, Friends of AU Library has had its best year yet. Our hope remains that a Friend or potential Friend will feel moved to step forward with a large gift to finance a much-needed addition to our present Bender library building. Until that happens, our task will be to continue along our present path.

Respectfully Submitted,

Roger H. Brown
Chair, Friends of AU Library

*Fiscal year = May 1 to the following April 30, thus FY 00 includes May 1, 1999 – April 30, 2000

NOTE: The “Number of Donors” and dollar amounts listed above reflect only monies received (from outright gifts or paid pledges). Persons with current unpaid pledges are not reflected in these totals.