photo by: Mike Yoder

Lawrence Public Library, pictured Aug. 20, 2015.

An anonymous $10,000 matching donation has helped the Lawrence Public Library surpass the $20,000 goal it had set for its annual fundraising campaign.

Kathleen Morgan, director of development and community partnerships at the library, said the campaign raised a total of $27,315 — $10,000 from the matching donation and $17,315 from other people in the community. The deadline to contribute to the campaign was Dec. 31.

“The match made a huge difference,” Morgan said. She said 142 donors contributed to the campaign, including 30 new donors.

The anonymous donor promised to contribute a dollar to the library’s long-term endowment for every dollar the community provided for immediate library needs, to a maximum of $10,000. Morgan said the $17,315 that other donors contributed for immediate needs will be managed by the library’s fundraising foundation, Friends & Foundation. She said it will go toward programming such as the library’s visiting author series, music storytellers series, summer reading program, Read Across Lawrence, Harry Potter Book Night and Sing and Rhyme Storytime.

Morgan said the donor was inspired by the recent merger of the library’s two fundraising groups — the Friends of the Lawrence Public Library and the Lawrence Public Library Foundation — which became effective on Jan. 1. Traditionally, the Friends supported the immediate needs of the library while the Foundation focused on its long-term needs.