Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/119308
> D e velo p m e n t Co l u mn B e hin d the s c ene s Making connections to support Libraries��� mission for CMU I���m often asked what exactly it is I do as the Director of Development and Community Outreach for the University Libraries. Let me tell you. I have the great pleasure of meeting Megan Moreno, ���06 CMU alumni and friends of the Libraries. I inform them about what the CMU Libraries are doing to improve our resources, services and programs for all CMU students and faculty and explain how private financial support benefits our pursuit of our mission. I meet people of various ages who���ve experienced CMU at different points in history, and at different periods in their lives. They teach me about where CMU has been, and I bring them up to speed on where CMU is headed and how the Libraries are helping the university get there. They share with me their stories: families, careers and hobbies. Many times we become friends, with an understanding of my role of facilitating and acknowledging their generosity in support of the Libraries and CMU. We become connected, then, by a university that���s played a role in where we both are today. In some cases I meet people who wish to support the Libraries at a greater level than they have in the past through a planned or major gift. I describe to them a funding need, or aspiration, of the Libraries that aligns with their philanthropic interests and passions. Finding a match benefits CMU students and faculty and fulfills the wishes of the donor simultaneously, thus beginning the circle of philanthropic joy. In October 2012 I attended the inaugural David M. and Eunice Sutherland Burgess Lecture, featuring author Betsy Hearne, in the Park Library Auditorium. As I sat in the packed auditorium, among faculty, students, and community members, I witnessed the culmination of philanthropic satisfaction. Seated next to me was my friend, library benefactor Mrs. Eunice Burgess. That evening an auditorium full of people reaped the rewards of her generosity as they listened to and engaged with an awardwinning author and scholar. The abundant pleasure and inspiration that Eunice���s gift to the Clarke Historical Library had created was a joyful realization for Eunice, and it evoked a warm and satisfying experience for me as well. I could go on with more stories of library supporters and friends new to me whose gifts of financial support have provided joy for them and for so many others too. If you���re considering a major or planned gift to the CMU Libraries, I���d love the opportunity to meet with you to determine how you could make a difference in an area of importance to you. Please feel free to contact me at 989-774-1826, or via email at brook1mr@cmich.edu. Megan Moreno, ���06 Director of Library Development and Community Outreach ���Stitches & Stories��� CMU alumna and former faculty member C. Joanne Grabinski, M.A. ���76, M.A. ���80, works on a needlepoint piece during her recent Park Library Third Floor Exhibit ���Stitches & Stories.��� The exhibit represented the former CMU gerontology program director���s interest in writing and needlepoint as art. Grabinski and her husband, Roger ��� a CMU professor emeritus ��� are regular supporters of the Libraries. 6