Foundation Projects
Our Annual Appeals
This annual fall fundraiser enjoys great success thanks to the generosity of library loves all over the Eastern Shore. The 2023 Appeal resulted in new computer equipment for the Cape Charles Memorial Library and the Chincoteague Island Library. We raised almost $17,000 that year.
The 2024 Appeal, which raised over $20,000, helped the Eastern Shore Regional Public Library in Parksley with needed furnishings. The lobby now has cozy chairs, a small sofa, and two very popular upholstered rocking chairs. A second “study pod” sees regular use. And a combination computer desk and playpen help caregivers who need to get online but must also supervise a baby.
Our 2025 Annual Appeal will help the Eastern Shore Regional Library System with one of its least glamorous but most important behind-the-scenes functions. That’s moving things – books, DVDs and audio books, office supplies, tents and tables, art supplies, exhibits, signs and more – up and down the Eastern Shore. You may have seen the library van, plying its way up and down Route 13 on its twice-weekly trips to all four libraries or at special events like Summerfest. The van is aging out, so the Eastern Shore Public Library Foundation is stepping up in during the 2025 giving season to raise $25,000 toward the estimated $70,000 purchase price.
Our first Joyce Brown Milliner summer interns!
Thanks to the farsighted generosity of Joyce Brown Milliner, a beloved English teacher here on the Shore, the Eastern Shore Public Library Foundation is able to draw on the Joyce Brown Milliner Endowment to support an internship program for high school and college students. The Foundation’s endowments – invested funds that provide long-term support for library activities – are managed by the Hampton Roads Community Foundation. We feel sure that Joyce Brown Milliner would be pleased to know that her gift is being used to support the librarians of the future.
Meet Jerimiah Wharton and Kaitlyn Phillips, shown here with Jamie Johnson, the Eastern Shore Public Library system’s Circulation Manager. Both are students at Nandua High School, and they joined the Parksley Library staff in the summer of 2025 as the first Joyce Brown Milliner interns. Jerimiah and Kaitlyn had a wonderful summer, and we enjoyed getting to know them.
This fall, the Milliner Endowment is supporting Ethan Ross, an Eastern Shore native who is working toward a Master’s degree in Library and Information Science from the University of Maine. Ethan works with archivist Luke Kelly on the myriad projects underway at the Heritage Center.
The Eastern Shore Public Library Foundation will always be able to support high school and college interns each year, thanks to the Joyce Brown Milliner Endowment.
Growing Endowments
The Eastern Shore Public Library Foundation has five endowments, four of which are managed by the Hampton Roads Community Foundation.
Endowments are funds invested to provide permanent long-term support for a nonprofit organization or cause. In time, a portion of the income from each endowment’s investments is made available annually to meet that fund’s purposes. The remaining assets are retained in the fund to provide for growth over time. (It’s the miracle of compound interest!)
At present, the Foundation has five endowments:
Katharine H. S. Edmonds Reading Materials Fund, dedicated to purchasing reading materials;
Joyce Brown Milliner Endowment, a family legacy for the library;
Kirk C. Mariner and B. Miles Barnes Archivist Fund;
Eastern Shore Public Library Materials Endowment and the
Eastern Shore Public Library Foundation Citizens’ Endowment Fund, which will support unmet library needs.
The Foundation’s Legacy Giving Committee is working to increase donations to our endowments. We welcome gifts and bequests that will help to build these funds. For more information, visit the DONATE section of this website.
Grant Assistance
The Eastern Shore Public Library Foundation collaborates with the Eastern Shore Public Library System in writing grants to foundations and government agencies for special projects and programs. It also manages grants once awarded. The Foundation has received over $250,000 from the National Endowment for the Humanities to support construction and furnishing the Heritage Center. Some directors of the Foundation have extensive grant-writing experience and are available to help library staff develop grant applications as needed.
EASTERN SHORE REGIONAL PUBLIC LIBRARY & HERITAGE CENTER
The product of our partnership with the Regional Library Board of Trustees and the Friends of the Eastern Shore Public Library, in collaboration with the Boards of Supervisors for Accomack County and Northampton Counties, the building in Parksley is a striking example of adaptive reuse. A former supermarket was transformed from providing physical nourishment to nourishment for the mind and spirit! The building offers community meeting rooms, comfortable places to read, free access to computers, spaces for children and teens, a makerspace and an auditorium with a capacity of 185 people for programs and meetings. And don’t forget -- and the Regional Library does a large collection of CDs, DVDs, magazines, newspapers, and books available for checkout!
The Eastern Shore Public Library Foundation raised over $5 million dollars and negotiated with the Accomack County government to turn this abandoned unoccupied building into a Regional Library. The Foundation also played an active role in designing the building and monitoring the construction process. The Foundation office is located there. We enjoy the cheerful “vibe” of the Library’s patrons and staff.