A case study of successful library fund‐raising: the right mix of deliberate strategy, “opportunity knocks” and “Lady Luck”

In November 1998, the new Fondren Library Center (FLC) was dedicated at Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, Texas. This building, connecting the main Fondren Library with the Science and Engineering Library (SEL), was the first building to be completed in SMU’s five year capital campaign “The campaign for SMU: a time to lead”, 1997‐2002. Was this seminal event a reflection of the university’s commitment to its library system; a tribute to donor generosity; the result of intense lobbying on the part of faculty and library staff; a happy accident; or some combination of all of the above? The article hopes to show that, like much fund‐raising, the latter was the case.