Prior to retiring from full-time librarianship to concentrate on readers' advisory (RA) consulting, teaching, and book and media discussions, Ted Balcom, longtime administrator of the Villa Park Public Library (VPPL), Illinois, repeatedly demonstrated a particularly effective approach to shoring up essential library support. Balcom, 1996 winner of the Public Library Association's Allie Beth Martin Award, used his library's popular book talks to identify and encourage strong library supporters to stand for election to the library board. Over the years, the combination of first-rate book discussions and subsequent encouragement of readers to stand for election caused the governing body of VPPL to be regularly refreshed with staunch advocates. Balcom's years-long cultivation of the support of those who love reading, libraries, and librarians represents a particularly striking example of the use of ROEI or "return on emotional investment." ROEI can be defined as a continuing emotional connection between users and the libraries and professional librarians who provide the library services and programs that people deem vital to their lives. It is also an essential component of lifecycle librarianship, an approach to securing the future of libraries and professional librarians that is rooted in identifying and meeting priority community needs for responsive services from "the lapsit to the nursing home." The model of lifecycle librarianship, grounded in ROEI, justifies and supports the need for librarians and other staff to develop long-term relationships with users at every age.