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The Salina Public Library recently received a transformative $250,000 pledge from the Robert & Aileen Button Fund to support the Re-Imagining Our Library: Youth Services project. The donation was made possible thanks to the generosity of Damon Button, a retired oil industry executive.
The fund is named for Damon's parents who spent most of their lives in Salina. Button now resides in Midland, Texas, but continues to follow Salina initiatives closely and has contributed to multiple local educational entities including a gift to Salina Tech’s Industrial Maintenance and Automation building.
Button’s contribution to the library will fund the construction of a public meeting room on the library's lower level. The Robert & Aileen Button Fund Meeting Room will provide vital space for community meetings and tutoring sessions, addressing the library’s current high demand for meeting spaces, which see over 10,000 reservations annually.
The investment is part of a broader $3.6 million Re-Imagining Our Library: Youth Services capital campaign, aimed at revitalizing the library’s lower level. The project aims to create designated spaces such as a youth programming room, a teen area, a nursing room for mothers, and essential upgrades and improvements to the nearly 30-year-old space.
Button hopes his gift inspires others to contribute to the library’s capital project.
“I hope future generations will have a good place to read and learn," he said.
The Re-Imagining Our Library campaign has raised just over $1.5 million, about 40% of the projected goal. Other benefactor donors of this project include the Earl Bane Foundation, Middlekauff Foundation and McCune Foundation.
“We are so grateful for the incredible support from our community and advocates like Damon Button. Together, they’re building a lasting legacy for future generations in Salina, and it’s inspiring to see," said Allyson Walker, head of fundraising and development at Salina Public Library.