Campaign Report (PDF, 1.7 MB)

I am pleased to present to you the GSLIS capital campaign report and to announce that as of October, 2011 we have met (and will exceed) our campaign goal of $15M. As the report explains, we reached this goal with a balanced portfolio of support: $4M from alumni, $4.9M from corporate partners, $4.3M from private foundations, $770K from other organizations, $840K from friends (including faculty and staff who are not alumni), and $190K from students. In the course of the campaign, the generosity of alumni and friends allowed us to create 40 new endowment funds, many of which are committed to providing fellowship and scholarship support for students. Our annual fund raised an aggregate of $1M during the campaign, in vital unrestricted funds that have allowed the School to fund computer labs and alternative spring break experiences, among other things. Our campaign goal was raised twice—from $7M to $9M in 2006, and from $9M to $15M in 2007.

I thank everyone who contributed to this remarkable success, in whatever manner or amount: all of your gifts are deeply appreciated. I am particularly grateful to the members of the GSLIS campaign advisory board, listed on page 12 of the report: your generosity has been exemplary in many ways. GSLIS also owes a special debt to the committee’s chair, Lionelle Elsesser, a long-time supporter of the School and a great general for the campaign.  The campaign’s success would not have been possible without the leadership of two chief development officers, Susan Barrick from 2003-2005, and Assistant Dean Diana Stroud, from 2005-2011. Equally important has been the dedicated support provided to various aspects of our advancement program by Office Administrator Patti Grove, Associate Director for Advancement Sharon Johnson, Director of Continuing Professional Development Marianne Steadley and several graduate students who provided support to Advancement during their time at GSLIS.  Finally, we could not make our case for support without the expert assistance of the GSLIS publications office—Cindy Ashwill and Kim Schmidt, and (at the beginning of the campaign) Marlo Welshons.

The campus’s Brilliant Futures campaign will officially conclude in December of 2011, and gifts booked by March will be included in the campaign totals: during that period and beyond, we will continue to work towards an endowed chair, for which we’ve raised $1.25M of the $2M required, and to work with the Library School Alumni Association on an endowed professorship, for which we’ve raised $125,000 of the $1M needed. But dollars are not the whole story at GSLIS: we have had wonderful contributions in all forms, from artworks to professional databases to fields of corn. Perhaps most enjoyable are the stories that our graduates have contributed along the way: you will find some of these beginning on page 18 of the campaign report.  Please have a look—they speak volumes about the value of a GSLIS education and the reasons people have for giving back. 

John Unsworth, Dean