Stephen King’s $3 million pledge helped transform hometown library into a $9.6 million project

When novelist Stephen King and his wife, Tabitha King, pledged $3 million to renovate the Bangor Public Library in Maine in 2013, the donation came with a condition: the institution had to raise another $6 million. The challenge helped set a wider fundraising effort in motion, with the library meeting its $9 million target in July 2014 before the modernisation project reached $9.6 million by 2016.The story was not simply about a celebrity making a large donation. The Kings’ pledge formed one-third of the proposed fundraising target, requiring the library to secure support from voters, businesses, foundations and individual donors. The result was a project that addressed problems threatening the historic building while introducing facilities intended to make it more useful to the community.A leaking roof prompted the campaignThe Bangor Public Library was confronting a basic but serious problem: its copper roof, installed when the building was constructed in the early 20th century, had developed leaks. Water had entered the building during storms, at one point running down the main staircase. The damage threatened the building and raised concerns about protecting its collection.The l...