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Library fundraising banner stolen

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FARMINGTON – A banner advertising the fundraising campaign for the public library’s roof repair project was taken over the weekend, and the staff wants it back.

Head Librarian Melanie Taylor Coombs said that the sign, which was strung up over the entrance, was found missing when the staff came in to work Tuesday morning. They discovered that the lines that connected the weatherproof white and blue banner had been cut. 

“We think it may have been taken over the weekend,” Coombs said. The library is closed on Sunday and Monday.

The sign was purchased for $100 from Sign Works to advertise an effort to fund the restoration of the library’s roof. The project is actually preceding faster than had been anticipated, and most of the external work is complete. However, the process of insulating the building and several minor, internal upgrades remains incomplete. The library is soliciting typically $10 or $15 donations, and Coombs noted that the loss of the sign represented a step backward in that effort.

“We’ve got people coming in with $10 to help out when they can,” Coombs said, “and then we basically lose $100.”

The missing banner has been reported to the police. Coombs speculated that someone may have taken the sign as a prank or perhaps for the slogan itself which, unfortunately in this case, has more than one meaning.

The sign read: “Let’s raise the roof – your donations needed.”

However, the fundraising effort has good news to report as well, as a major grant has recently been secured to assist with the roof project. Coombs declined to release the involved agency or the amount, as final, housekeeping steps are still being taken. A mass mailing will also be sent out soon, as Coombs estimated that roughly another $140,000 still needed to be raised.

As far as the sign goes, Coombs remains hopeful that those responsible will return the banner to the library.

“We’d just love to get it back,” she said. Other options could include asking local businesses for assistance in procuring a new sign, but Coombs hopes it won’t come to that.

Anyone with information about the missing sign can call the library at 778 – 4312. That number can also be used for those interested in making a donation toward the roofing project. Those donations, Coombs noted, are tax deductible.

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