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Library’s biggest challenges, possible solutions

by | Sep 8, 2025

The exterior rendering by Enteros Design of the Rappahannock County Library.
The exterior rendering by Enteros Design of the Rappahannock County Library. (Courtesy/Enteros Design)

The feasibility study conducted to determine the possibility of raising the $6.5 million needed to expand and renovate the Rappahannock County Public Library found, based on responses from community members, the biggest challenges to be:

  • Fundraising goal is perceived as too high: Many of those surveyed felt $6.5 million exceeds any campaign that has ever been completed in the community, and does not fit the local giving capacity. 
  • Insufficient gift availability: The donor pool lacks enough major or mid-level prospects to realistically reach the full goal, despite strong support for the library’s mission.
  • Community engagement challenges: The case for support isn’t yet compelling or widely understood, lowering the project’s priority compared to other community needs.
  • Economic and timing concerns: Economic uncertainty and overlapping nonprofit campaigns may reduce donor confidence and divert resources.

The consultant recommended:

  • Revising campaign goal: Scale back to $3-$4 million and consider phasing to show progress.
  • Strengthening the case for support: Emphasize the library’s role and highlight clear community benefits that justify the expansion.
  • Expanding donor cultivation: Target new medium and major gift-giving prospects and use current supporters as “ambassadors” to expand the donor network.
  • Enhancing community awareness: Use social and news media, events and open houses to explain the need.
  • Exploring alternative funding sources: Pursue grants, corporate sponsors and naming opportunities to supplement giving.

Author

  • Ireland Hayes

    Ireland joined Foothills Forum as a full-time reporter in 2023 after graduating from the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication with a degree in journalism and minor in music. As a student, she gained valuable experience in reporter and editor positions at The Red & Black, an award-winning student newspaper, and contributed to Grady Newsource and the Athens Banner-Herald. She spent three years as an editorial assistant at Georgia Magazine, UGA’s quarterly alumni publication, and interned with The Bitter Southerner.
    Growing up in a small town in Southeast Georgia, Ireland developed a deep appreciation for rural communities and the unique stories they have to tell. She completed undergraduate research on news deserts, ghost papers and the ways rural communities in Georgia are being forced to adapt to a lack of local news. This research further sparked her interest in a career contributing to the preservation of local and rural news.
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By Ireland Hayes

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Ireland joined Foothills Forum as a full-time reporter in 2023 after graduating from the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication with a degree in journalism and minor in music. As a student, she gained valuable experience in reporter and editor positions at The Red & Black, an award-winning student newspaper, and contributed to Grady Newsource and the Athens Banner-Herald. She spent three years as an editorial assistant at Georgia Magazine, UGA’s quarterly alumni publication, and interned with The Bitter Southerner. Growing up in a small town in Southeast Georgia, Ireland developed a deep appreciation for rural communities and the unique stories they have to tell. She completed undergraduate research on news deserts, ghost papers and the ways rural communities in Georgia are being forced to adapt to a lack of local news. This research further sparked her interest in a career contributing to the preservation of local and rural news.