Gift Giving Opportunities

Our donors directly enhance the library’s services and programs, ultimately bolstering the community values sustained in Chelmsford. Whether it is through a direct donation, a planned giving program, memorial gift, or participation in one of our fundraising events, YOU can strengthen library services in Chelmsford for years to come.

Impact Fund donations are currently supporting the Becky Herrmann Memorial Tributes, please choose that option below if you wish to give in honor of our former director.

Direct Donations & Sustaining Contributions

You may donate securely through Paypal to any of the funds listed below. You’ll be prompted on the next page to enter an amount and choose a one-time or monthly donation.

Your donation may be eligible for a matching gift. Ask if your employer will make your donation have twice the impact!

If you prefer to donate by mail, please print and complete the Becky Herrmann Memorial donation form [pdf] or the General donation form [pdf] and send with payment to:

Chelmsford Public Library
25 Boston Road
Chelmsford, MA 01824

 

Additional Gift-Giving Opportunities

Donate to the Gift Book Fund

When something monumental occurs in our lives, we often want to mark the occasion. Purchasing a book to honor an achievement or in memory of a loved one is an appropriate way to mark an accomplishment or to celebrate a life. Let us help you make an appropriate selection.

Working with one of our subject specialists, you can choose the perfect book (or books) that will reflect the interests of the one you honor. Donations of this type are made to the Chelmsford Public Library Gift Book Fund.

Donate to the Impact Fund

Each year, the Trustees will choose a specific focus for fundraising that will have a significant impact on the Library and Chelmsford patrons. Some years this might be a single big-ticket item (such as a building project or new service or resource) and other years might be raising money to supplement other Library funding. Each year’s theme will be detailed on the Impact Fund webpage.

Bequests

Gifts by bequest remain the most commonly practiced and easiest way to provide for those institutions that are important to you. Over the years, many patrons and supporters have remembered the Library as they prepare or revise their wills.

A bequest to the Chelmsford Public Library creates a legacy for generations of your family. We can refer you to experts who can provide sample wording for wills and simple advice upon request.

Gifts of Appreciated Assets

Through gifts of publicly traded securities such as stocks, bonds, or mutual fund shares, you have the advantage of seeing your donation at work helping the Library. Gifts of highly appreciated stock or securities provide you with a charitable tax deduction, avoidance of capital gains tax, and the satisfaction of helping the Library. You can also receive similar benefits from gifts of appreciated real estate.

Corporate and Local Business Giving

Over the years, area corporations and small businesses have supported the Library in a multitude of ways. Library materials collections, the recent addition of a pocket park adjacent to the library and library programs have all been enhanced through the generous donations of local corporations and small businesses.

In addition, many of these companies have Employee Matching Gifts programs. Check with your employer to see if they have such a program in place.

Donations of Books or other Materials

Books, DVDs, CDs, Audiobooks, and other items are evaluated by library staff and volunteers to determine if they are appropriate to add to the library’s collection. If not, the items are included in the Friends book sale to raise money for the library. Read more about the book sale and donation guidelines.

Become a Friend of the Library

Our Friends group is one of the largest and most active in the state. Join the Friends , and your dues along with other funds raised by the Friends help pay for the Library’s museum passes, programming, equipment and furniture. And don’t forget to to shop at the Friends’ Annual Book Sale every September – all the money raised by the Friends goes to support the Library.

Donation History: More Than a Century of Giving

For more than 100 years, library philanthropy has been a tradition in the town of Chelmsford. It began in 1893, when a group of private citizens banded together and generously donated a collection of 1,846 volumes which became Chelmsford’s first “free public library”.

It continued with the donation of a parcel of land from Mr. J. Adams Bartlett for the site of a new library building. Captain C.E.A. Bartlett undertook the cost of grading the land and Mr. Amos Francis Adams stepped forward with $30,000 to finance the construction of the new library. In 1895, the Amos Adams Library opened its doors. Philanthropy thrived again in 1947 when Stewart MacKay, another generous donor, bequeathed his home to the town to be converted to a branch library for North Chelmsford. Over the years, townspeople have supported the library by donating books, gifts of stock, memorial and gift funds. In 2000, the community raised in excess of $500,000 to aid in the cost of the construction and furnishing of an expanded Chelmsford Public Library. Throughout 2016-17, over $100,000 was raised for the construction and ongoing maintenance of the Marjorie Scoboria Greenway.

This tradition of generosity is what sustains the Chelmsford Library and allows it to remain such a valuable resource to the community. Thank you!