AMHERST — With about a year left to raise another $6.1 million to meet the fundraising goals of the capital campaign for the $46.1 million Jones Library building project, elected trustees are contemplating an approach to cover the gap by using a portion of the Jones Inc. endowment.
While trustees annually draw from the endowment, which currently sits at $9.5 million, to support about 12% of the cost of library operations, the board is looking at what steps it could take to tap the endowment to meet the library’s $15.8 million commitment to the building project. That commitment is set out in a memorandum of agreement the trustees signed with Town Manager Paul Bockelman five years ago.
At a late July meeting, Trustees President Austin Sarat said the gap between the commitment and the funds raised through the capital campaign will not be trivial and, while trustees can hope the gap is closed, they also should acknowledge it “will be substantial.”
“We know that will have an impact on the library budget,” Sarat said.
What the library needs to raise is now about the same as the $15.8 million originally committed by the Town Council to the project, or about one-third of the project costs. The remainder is being covered by a $13.8 million construction grant from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners and an additional almost $1.7 million in “pandemic escalation” grant money from the state.
Trustees Treasurer Nat Larson said $4.5 million of the endowment is in a money market account, placed there in case it needs to be used for the project, though it also may be possible to borrow funds from the endowment and pay them back over time.
But tapping the endowment to support the capital campaign makes some residents nervous.
Michael Greenebaum, a retired school principal and longtime observer of town politics, said he worries that trustees are open to the idea of using the endowment as a backstop.
“I’m very concerned about trustees using the endowment to deal with capital issues,” Greenebaum said, adding that there should be opportunities for meeting the fundraising goals without resorting to that.
As it stands, Greenebaum said more of the endowment may be needed for operations and upkeep when the larger building opens.
Those in charge of the capital campaign are confident, though, that there is still time to meet the fundraising goals, despite a $1 million grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities being rescinded.
So far, Lisa DeGrace, development director for the campaign and for the Friends of the Jones Library, said $9.68 million has been collected in both direct support and pledges, which includes $1.7 million in fiscal year 2026, which ended on June 30.
“The Capital Campaign Committee and staff are actively working to close the gap over the next year, and ask for the support of the community through donations and multiyear pledges,” DeGrace said.
The committee also is strategizing should temporary withdrawals from the endowment be needed to meet the commitment.
DeGrace said should this happen, her team will pivot in fiscal year 2028 and in future years to replace those funds through strategic fundraising and planned giving campaigns.
The capital campaign continues to meet its obligation, which is to turn over to the town money collected, and this week is presenting another $600,000 to the town as payment. This will bring the total turned over to the town to nearly $7 million, DeGrace said. That is more than 40% of the way toward the full commitment.
Fundraising can also continue beyond the next year. The April 2021 memorandum of agreement stipulates that the full amount must be received no later than “one year from the date on which a certificate of occupancy is issued for the project, unless the town, through the Town Council, approves a later date.” The library reopening is pegged for sometime in late winter or early spring 2027.
It is also in that agreement where the possibility of using the endowment is referenced, which at the time it was written, Feb. 28, 2021, stood at $9.12 million. The agreement calls for trustees using the endowment “or other sources of funds available to it.”
The campaign has outstanding pledges of approximately $2.1 million, nearly $1 million of which is from state, business and institutional sources, and DeGrace said she is not concerned that these will be paid. The campaign has a total of 658 donors who have pledged or contributed as of Aug. 1, including 419 gifts under $1,000.
DeGrace said with each passing day the building project gets closer to completion. When done it will provide significant value to the community, she said.
“We remain certain that this project is worthwhile and will be transformative to the Amherst community and businesses downtown for generations to come,” DeGrace said.
