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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Advertisement Email Story to a Friend July 11, 2003 Donors raise $590,000 to enhance library By WENDY ARDOLINO Mail Tribune As a child growing up in Hawaii, Margaret Kidwell loved to sit and read books in her library’s garden. When she learned the new Medford library was raising money for a garden room, she jumped at the chance to help out. The Rogue Valley Manor resident donated $10,000 in memory of her husband, Homer Kidwell, who died in December 2000. "Our marriage was a very happy one and I want him to be remembered," Kidwell said. Advertisement Kidwell is one of many local residents and businesses who’ve helped raise $590,000 of a $600,000 goal for enhancements to the new library, scheduled for completion by the end of the year. The funds will pay for art, two reading gardens, new books, technology and other enhancements that were not included in the $38.9 million countywide bond passed in May 2000 to rebuild and renovate 14 libraries. "I think that it’s important people understand that it’s outside of the bond measure," said Karen Foster, a member of the library’s Arts Enhancements Committee and former Storytelling Guild president. The committee raised $40,000 to name the children’s picture book room after Pat Blair, a recently retired librarian. "For years and years, she was the children’s librarian and had a lot to do with children growing up being readers and loving the library and loving books," said Diane Newland, a library patron and volunteer. The committee sent out letters to residents and people involved in the Storytelling Guild and its Children’s Festival held each July in Jacksonville. "We raised $40,000 and never made a phone call," Foster said. In the Pat Blair Picture Book Room, there will be another patron’s gift: a "monster bench." The money for the $20,000 artwork, featuring a big monster reading to a baby monster, was donated by former county commissioner Peter Sage and his wife, Debra Lee, to honor his father, Robert Sage. The elder Sage had been a principal in Gold Hill and Medford for 34 years, retiring as principal from Wilson Elementary School in 1980. "It pleases me to think this tribute will take place in a building destined to last 100 or more years," Peter Sage said. Sage also made a donation to name the adult fiction area of the library in memory of his late mother, Anne Kostarelos. "My mom had been an avid reader of fiction and it seemed like a nice way to honor her," Sage said. Some of the larger donations include $125,000 from the estate of Isabel Sickels, who was a former county commissioner and library supporter, as well as four $50,000 gifts and grants from the Bear Creek Corp., the Carpenter Foundation and two private donors. A well-received "shelf program" has raised $17,000 since May. In the program, people who donate $100 receive an engraved plaque that will be permanently attached to a library shelf. The library is an honorable and permanent place to recognize people that are important in one’s life, Sage said. The library also plays an important role in educating the people in our area, Kidwell said. It was investment books in the Reference Section that helped Kidwell make her donation to the library, she said. "If my library hadn’t had a section on financial services, I never would have been able to give them (the library) $10,000," she said. For ways to donate time, money or books to the library, call 772-4601 or visit the Web site www.jclf.org Reach intern Wendy Ardolino at 776-4477. Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker Custom Build Computers Discount Hotel Reservations online casinos news Ashley Furniture HomeStore Send Flowers Southern Oregon Loans California Casinos GMAT Prep Windermere Van Vleet Sports Equipment Online Casino Reviews Online Bingo Entertainment Guide Online Casino Fundraisers Sudoku Online Casinos Canada Online Pharmacy Advertisement s