LIBRARY FOUNDATION OF LOS ANGELES

The Library Foundation of Los Angeles’ support of the Los Angeles Public Library helps make a host of programs, resources, and services available to the millions of adults, children, and youth in Los Angeles. The Library Foundation of Los Angeles further strengthens the Los Angeles Public Library and promotes greater awareness of its valuable resources through fundraising, advocacy, and innovative programs. Toward these ends, the Library Foundation of Los Angeles’ goals are to:
•Fund programs that promote literacy, imagination, and lifelong learning to support children, teens, and adults in becoming informed and empowered;
•Expand the Library’s extensive and ever-growing digital collections and resources, making them accessible to more Angelenos;
•Facilitate the public exchange of knowledge and ideas via our innovative public programs; and
•Support all Angelenos including those who face economic barriers and other hurdles in connecting to resources that will help them lead healthy, vibrant, and fulfilling lives.

As a partner of the Los Angeles Public Library, we are committed to keeping the Library thriving for generations to come and providing all Angelenos access to a better life. Our aspiration is that the Library exemplifies the transformative power of libraries for other libraries around the world.

The Library Foundation of Los Angeles seeks to accomplish its mission and overarching goals through fundraising, advocacy, and by developing and supporting innovative programming at the Library.

Fundraising
As a 501c3 entity supporting the Los Angeles Public Library, the Library Foundation of Los Angeles complements, but does not supplant, the City’s role in funding the Library’s operations. Specifically, Library Foundation of Los Angeles support aims to enhance the Library’ capabilities, resources, and programs. As such, the Library Foundation of Los Angeles identifies potential partners locally and nationally, developing collaborative relationships with individual donors, corporate entities, government, and other philanthropic organizations to cultivate sources of financial support for the Library that will ensure its overall financial health and the sustainability of the programs we support.

Advocacy
The Library Foundation of Los Angeles also advocates for the Library, nurturing relationships with key decision-makers and raising awareness among the general public about the vital role the Library plays in our community. As part of this effort, in 2011, the Library Foundation of Los Angeles played a crucial role in spearheading the Measure L campaign, which led to the ballot measure passed by voters that restored Library service levels that had been cut after the Great Recession.

Innovative Programs
Through its unique exhibitions and programming, the Library Foundation of Los Angeles has helped make the Library a cultural destination and a hub of civic engagement for hundreds of thousands in our city. In September 2017, the Library Foundation of Los Angeles’ “Visualizing Language: Oaxaca in L.A.” exhibition explored the issues of identity, migration, and the shared cultural experience between Los Angeles and Mexico through new artwork and more than 75 hands-on programs at libraries citywide. More recently, the Library Foundation of Los Angeles’ “21 Collections: Every Object Has a Story” exhibition examined the role collections play in telling our stories and those of our communities and Los Angeles at large.

Moreover, for more than two decades, the Library Foundation of Los Angeles’ distinguished ALOUD series has brought Los Angeles together with hundreds of today’s top writers, thinkers, and performers to listen, learn, and exchange ideas. The Library Foundation of Los Angeles also recently collaborated with the Library to launch the Democracy Project/Teens Leading Change program, which provides resources and guidance to help middle and high school youth research, plan, and pilot direct-action, civic engagement projects that involve and benefit their communities.

The Library Foundation of Los Angeles relies on exceptional personnel, the Library’s physical and digital capabilities, and numerous partnerships to achieve its goals. We count on the Library Foundation of Los Angeles’ dedicated team members, who leverage their expertise in fundraising and stewardship to ensure the Library has the resources it needs to achieve its important work. Equally important, we count on the commitment of the Library’s various supporters, from our donors to the Library’s Friends Groups members to the numerous volunteers who help power the Library’s programs, all of whom are essential to helping the Library and us achieve our goals.

The Library Foundation of Los Angeles also counts on the Library’s vast capabilities. This includes the nearly 600 librarians and support staff who assist millions of Library visitors each year in connecting with the information and materials they need. And, it includes the Library’s immense physical and digital capabilities such as the 538,000 square-foot Central Library in the heart of Downtown Los Angeles, the 72 neighborhood libraries that span the entire city, and the more than 7 million physical items, e-books, audiobooks, and other digital resources available to patrons. Few institutions in our city are as equipped to reach and positively shape as many lives as the Library.

In addition to the exceptional people and resources that power our work, community partners play a critical role in helping us achieve our goals. Over the years, partners have been instrumental in helping us grow ideas and small pilot programs into system-wide initiatives serving thousands across the Library’s 73 sites. Examples of Library Foundation of Los Angeles supported programs that have thrived because of the efforts of community partners include Health Matters, which has connected tens of thousands of low-income Angelenos to health insurance programs and wellness information, and Full STEAM Ahead, which has provided more than 100,000 Library patrons with hands-on science, technology, engineering, art, and math learning opportunities.

Since it was founded in 1992, the Library Foundation of Los Angeles has raised more than $158 million in support for the Library and various programs delivered via the Central Library, 72 neighborhood branches, and the Web. From funding literacy activities to supporting librarian and volunteer training to equipping the city’s libraries with the latest technology, the Library Foundation of Los Angeles has helped to enhance and expand the Library’s capacity significantly.

Accomplishments we supported or made possible in the past year included:
•Tens of thousands of hours of one-to-one tutoring and literacy classes that benefited thousands of learners through Adult Literacy Services, which helps adult learners improve their literacy proficiencies;
•Thousands of computer workshops and one-to-one technology support to patrons in low-income communities through Cybernauts;
•Opening of the Digital Commons, a state-of-the-art dedicated space at Central Library that gives patrons access to individual and collaborative workspaces, high-speed wireless Internet, in-person computer support and training, and more;
•Experiential learning opportunities to 65,741 children, teens, and adults through Full STEAM Ahead, an integrated science, technology, engineering, art, and math program at the Library;
•Free access to laptops, professional tutors, college readiness workshops, and much more to thousands of middle and high school students through Future Ready Teens, which helps teens strengthen key literacies, achieve success in school, prepare for college and career, and develop skills that will prepare them to transition from students to working adults to engaged citizens; and
•Hundreds of pre-literacy workshops and storytimes that engaged tens of thousands of caregivers and their children, supporting parents in engaging children in early literacy exercises, read alouds, and other early literacy activities.

Next, we are working on:
•Building out a public programs department to enhance the quality and delivery of the Library Foundation of Los Angeles’ exhibitions, programs, and other cultural offerings;
•Supporting the Library as it refines its Health Matters initiative to provide more Angelenos, particularly those who are most vulnerable to poor health outcomes, with services and resources that will help them achieve improved health and wellbeing;
•Strengthening the Library’s Full STEAM Ahead initiative to support patrons of all ages in developing personal traits and work habits that are essential to a productive lifestyle and success in STEM fields;
•Growing the Library’s digital offerings including e-media, databases, and online programs, to provide many more Angelenos with access to the Library’s materials; and
•Developing additional opportunities for teens to gain critical thinking skills, take part in direct civic engagement projects, and understand civics at the local and national scale via the Democracy Project.