Library Wish List - Gustavus Blogs

The Library at Gustavus has a wish list. Can you help? The Library has wonderful projects, exceptional opportunities, and unique needs. If you are willing to support the Library at Gustavus in these specific and important ways, the college and the Friends of the Library-GLA welcome your partnership…

Some initiatives your donations can support include:

Stress-Less @ the Library: Support for Reading Day activities
Our Stress-Less Finals Week activities have become very popular with students. On Reading Day, the Library provides cookies, tea, hot cocoa, and candy for students. For approximately $200/semester, the Library is able to make a warm and caring connection with students at a time during the semester when their lives can be extremely stressful.

Reading Brings Us Together: Support for this initiative
Thanks to a grant from the college, in 2023 we were able to sponsor a Gustavus community reading program that culminated in a collective “reading party” event. We would love to make this an annual event. For approximately $500, the Library would be able to offer pizza, frost-your-owns, and lemonade, and give away prizes to folks who complete various reading challenges.

Liquid Chalk Markers
The Library recently purchased an A-frame chalkboard easel that we use to welcome classes in the Library, highlight special events, or share bits of trivia about authors or books. We would appreciate additional liquid chalk markers (such as these) in a variety of colors. Estimated cost: $20.

Tea Cart: Support for Tea Tuesdays
Every Tuesday we invite all Gusties to take a break and enjoy some tea, cocoa, or hot cider. These regular expenses total about $150 per year and are not currently covered in the Library’s budget. For another $200/semester, we could provide additional one-time treats (frost-your-owns, anyone?) and special touches (e.g., honey sticks) on Tea Tuesdays.

Capital Needs:

Make your gift to the Library’s capital fund. Gifts to the capital fund help us to invest in much-needed larger items for the Library, including furniture for our classrooms and reading room. We’re looking to raise an estimated $40,000 to enable us to replace these large-ticket and much-needed items to make our spaces more attractive and comfortable for students to enjoy.

Some examples of ways that your gift to the Library’s capital fund can be used include furniture for our classrooms and reading room.

Other large needs:

Your unrestricted gift to the Library helps us to enhance our service delivery in the Library, including things like expanding our streaming offerings for academic streaming services, and offering DEI training for our Library staff. Your support helps us to improve and expand our services for a high quality experience for our students.

Donate here (Be sure to note where you would like your gift to go in the “donation comments” section) or contact the Advancement Office at 1-800-726-6192 to donate via phone or set up a larger gift.