Title
Declaring Thursday, November 3, 2016 to be Peter Pearson Day in the City of Saint Paul.
Body
WHEREAS, Peter Pearson has served as President of The Friends for 25 years; and
WHEREAS, Peter has enjoyed a diverse and bountiful career always using his talents to better others including years as a teacher, as a principal and as the executive director of a nonprofit organization that provided one-on-one tutoring for adults with learning disabilities; and
WHEREAS, with tenacious drive and in true Peter Pearson style, he raised over one million dollars in one year bringing the organization back from the brink of collapse; and
WHEREAS, Peter lead the organization for five more years before being named the executive director of a state taskforce on adult literacy; and
WHEREAS, in 1992 Peter was tapped to become the President and first and only staff member of The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library, at a time when The Friends’ endowment was $200,000 and seven people served on the board; and
WHEREAS, now, nearly twenty-five years later, The Friends has an endowment of $14 million, nineteen staff members, an enviable reputation of mindful philanthropic support, and a board of fifty dynamic, dedicated and diverse business and community leaders; and
WHEREAS, under Peter’s strong leadership The Friends has successfully completed two capital campaigns, providing funding for the renovation and remodel of the George Latimer Central Library, the Sun Ray Library and the Highland Park Library; and
WHEREAS, The Friends has boosted Minnesota’s thriving literary culture, serving as the “Minnesota Center for the Book” and hosting the annual Minnesota Book Awards for the last decade; and
WHEREAS, under Peter’s guidance The Friends has become one of the strongest library support organizations in the country and has served as a guide to many other organizations, including through a revenue-generating consulting arm called “Library Strategies Consulting Group”; and
WHEREAS, this incredible organizational growth and the immeasurable impact it has had on the Saint Paul Public Library and its patrons would not have been possible without the magnanimous leadership of Peter Pearson; and
WHEREAS, the Saint Paul City Council wishes to extend its deepest appreciation to Peter for his many years of dedicated service and legacy of support for the Saint Paul Public Library that will last long into the future; now, therefore
BE IT RESOLVED, that Thursday, November 3rd, 2016, be declared as Peter Pearson Day in the great City of Saint Paul.