Two of the library’s major fundraising arms have officially merged.
With votes of approval from both the Friends of the Belmont Public Library and the Belmont Library Foundation, the merger took effect on July 1.
“We are thrilled to complete this important chapter of the story of the Belmont Public Library,” Cyndi Reitmeyer, president of the Friends of the Belmont Public Library, said in a statement. “By merging these two important organizations, we’re making it easier and more efficient for people to support the library, both for programmatic purposes and for any future needs, and we’re setting up the new library for a dynamic and exciting future by bringing all the library supporters into one organization.”
At its meeting on June 12, the Friends of the Belmont Public Library also voted on its executive board. Reitmeyer will serve as president, with Patricia Hurley as vice president; Wendy Conroy as secretary; and Nancy Dignan and Kabin Shrestha as co-treasurers.
Merger conversations began last fall, according to Reitmeyer. The goal was to improve efficiency and create one unified structure to better support the library.
“We felt like the merger made a lot of sense from an efficiency standpoint,” Reitmeyer previously said. “Why run two organizations? More importantly, you’re bringing together two wonderful groups—all the members love the library and want to continue to support it, especially the space, as best as possible.”
Whereas the Friends of the Library exists to support daily library programming, the Foundation was created to raise money to support the construction of the new library, which is expected to be completed later this year. The time of the merger made sense, said Ed Barker, a member of both organizations.
