Skip to content

Monday – Thursday: 9 am – 9 pm
Friday: 9 am – 6 pm
Saturday: 9 am – 5 pm
Sunday: 1 – 5 pm

Monday, January 6, 2025  |  9 am – 9 pm

Monday – Thursday: 9 am – 9 pm
Friday: 9 am – 6 pm
Saturday: 9 am – 5 pm
Sunday: 1 – 5 pm

Welcome Glen Ellyn Library Foundation Development Officer Carrie Gowans!

By: Dawn Bussey, Executive Director

Carrie Gowans
New Development Officer Carrie Gowans

I am excited about the changes taking place at the library this spring, including a new seed library and the creation of our makerspace – The Workshop. The library’s ability to provide a state-of-the-art facility with innovative services that reflect community interests like the makerspace is due in large part to a donation from the Glen Ellyn Library Foundation. Their $100,000 donation in January 2024 is a testament to the hard work and dedication of this group.

In June 2022, after helping the Foundation navigate fundraising efforts during a pandemic, former Foundation Development Officer Julie Evans decided to move on from the position to advocate for affordable, accessible, and supported housing in Glen Ellyn and DuPage County. As 2022’s Glen Ellyn Citizen of the Year, Julie’s were large shoes to fill!

The new development officer would need skills to

  • plan, organize, implement, and evaluate all fundraising activities, including fundraising galas like The Silver Ball, social media awareness campaigns, and direct mail campaigns;
  • identify and reach out to potential donors to encourage them to make contributions;
  • cultivate relationships with past donors, ensuring that they are engaged in the organization’s mission and encouraged to make additional contributions;
  • find grant opportunities and write grant proposals;
  • meet with key stakeholders, ranging from volunteers to board members, to keep them advised of the development activities.

As a part-time substitute teacher in Glen Ellyn School District 41 and a volunteer with Glenbard Parent Series, Glenbard West High School Boosters, and Bear Necessities Pediatric Cancer Foundation, Carrie Gowans was already helping Julie network and spread awareness about the Foundation in the Glen Ellyn community. So, in August 2022, it seemed like a natural fit for the Glen Ellyn resident whose children had participated in summer reading and displayed collections in the Youth Department and who valued the size, beauty, and program offerings of the library to help the Foundation raise funds and promote awareness of the Glen Ellyn Public Library she knew and loved! Carrie and her family relocated to Glen Ellyn during the winter of 2009 from Chagrin Falls, OH. Glen Ellyn’s walkable downtown, strong school districts, active park district, and vibrant library made it an ideal place to raise two young sons. Carrie has a BA in psychology and an MA in education with an emphasis in higher-education administration and leadership. Her professional background is primarily in education and fundraising. In her new role as Development Officer, Carrie hopes to create connections with individual and corporate donors, generate interest in giving to the library, and find grant opportunities.

chat loading...

Accessibility Toolbar