An anonymous donor has issued a $1 million challenge to support the community-based effort to build a new library in Ridgefield.
The money was pledged to the Fort Vancouver Regional Library Foundation.
The donor will match any gifts given to the fund-raising campaign from now through the end of 2020, Christine Perry, the foundation’s executive assistant, said Thursday afternoon following the announcement. It’s a dollar-for-dollar challenge, so the maximum amount of money at stake is $2 million, Perry said.
A facilities study released in 2014 estimated it would cost about $5 million to build a new library in Ridgefield. The current 2,055-square-foot library is housed in the Ridgefield Community Center, 210 N. Main Ave.
Amelia Shelley, executive director of the Fort Vancouver Regional Library District, noted in a news release that “Ridgefield is the fastest growing city in Washington.”
“Our studies have shown that Ridgefield needs a library building that is four or five times larger than the current facility so that we can continue to provide the kinds of programs and services that meet the needs of the community,” Shelley said.
The library facilities study recommended increasing the space to 12,941 square feet. It recommended a children’s area of 1,900 square feet, which is almost the size of the existing library.
The challenge is meant to inspire other donors to come forward and contribute, Rick Smithrud, foundation executive director, said in a news release.
“The challenge grant was specifically designed to encourage gifts of $10,000 or more for the Ridgefield Library Building Fund,” he said.
There is a 3 1/2 -year challenge window, Smithrud said, because “some donors need to plan ahead to make donations of this size.”
Ridgefield is one of three communities — with Washougal and Woodland — where nonprofit Friends of the Library groups are participating in grassroots efforts to replace or remodel their libraries.
Neither of the other two community efforts have generated the prospect of a seven-figure grant, Perry said.
The pledge was made through the Community Foundation for Southwest Washington.
