$500,000 jump-starts Monroe library project.

Byline: Rebecca Woolington The Register-Guard

MONROE - John Gray went to Monroe High School when it was a one-room schoolhouse during the Great Depression. His mother was his teacher; his father died when he was in first grade.

Gray said he and his two younger brothers were raised by his mother, with the help of five local farm families.

"The men taught us a lot while we were growing up," he said. "They were our substitute fathers."

In honor of his mother and those five families, Gray, who's now 90, has offered a $500,000 challenge grant to the South Benton Library Project. The grant challenges the project's 15-member committee to step up and raise the rest of the funds necessary to complete a $1.6 million new library, which is set to be finished by spring 2011.

The library will be constructed off Highway 99W at the site of an old railroad depot and across the street from Monroe High School. A sign hangs at the site depicting the project's fundraising progress to date through a model train moving along a track.

Currently, the train is parked at the 30 percent completion mark, and it's moving forward slowly but surely, said city librarian Lori Pelkey.

"It really is like `The Little Engine That Could,'" she said. "We are gaining momentum."

Receiving a $500,000 challenge grant has definitely provided a boost to their efforts.

Gray's grant has inspired and energized committee members, said Pelkey, who serves as the committee's secretary.

"To know that it's there waiting for us is just phenomenal," she said.

At 6,500 square feet, the new library will be five times the size of the city's current tiny library, which is three times too small for Monroe's 625 residents, according to Oregon Library Association guidelines.

After graduating from Monroe High School in 1936, Gray went to Oregon State University and served in the U.S. Army for 51/2 years during World War II. After his military service, Gray attended Harvard Business School, operated a manufacturing business in Portland and became involved in land development.

Gray, who now lives in Portland, said he read news accounts about Monroe's tiny library and decided having a new library would be beneficial.

"It's not just going to be a library; it's going to be a community meeting place," he said.

Growing up in Monroe, Gray remembers how the rural town's residents worked together.

"Neighbors always looked after each other," he said.

And the challenge grant is how Gray is offering his hand.

Alone, the committee has raised about $160,000. Library supporters are now taking steps to generate more funding by applying to regional grants and tapping local philanthropic sources, said Michele Gazica, the committee's fundraising chairwoman.

While the committee's fundraising efforts were moving along swiftly from the start, Gazica said it is Gray's grant that has really put things in motion.

"His donation really shot the campaign out of the cannon," Gazica said.

Gray, however, remains humble when talking about his offer.

"It's just my way of saying thank you for the experience my mother, brothers and I had in the area," he said.

BY THE NUMBERS

3,000: Number of people who visit the Monroe Library each month

1,250: Size in square feet of current library

6,500: Size in square feet of new library

8,000: Maximum number of books current library can house

15,000: Number of books new library will house

8: Number of computers in current library

24: Number of computers in new library

2: Number of meeting rooms in new library

Source: South Benton Library Project