Great libraries
need great friends—and The Friends of
the Minneapolis Public Library needs
you! That statement says it all. The
need for an active, supporting
organization for libraries is more
necessary than ever.
Last year, The
Friends were honored at the American
Library Association conference with an
award for the nation’s most outstanding
library friends group. This year, The
Friends will work with our colleagues at
the county support organizations—the
Library Foundation of Hennepin County
and the 26 Friends organizations in
suburban Hennepin County—to determine
how to best support all of the libraries
in this new, united system. Your gift
to The Friends today will ensure that
the interests of city library users are
promoted in this newly consolidated
system.
The Friends have
made a commitment to raise $866,000 for
Minneapolis libraries this fiscal year (July 1, 2007
to June 30, 2008) to
provide critically needed funds – over
and above operations – for collections,
technology, and programs. The
libraries in Minneapolis are counting on
these funds to serve the community.
The
Friends need to raise $190,000 more by
July 1 to reach this goal. Your membership support
will keep our
urban libraries strong and close this
funding gap. Your support this year
will help, The Friends:
- Purchase
$120,000 worth of new
books, materials, and computers for
libraries in Minneapolis;
- Secure funding
for the citywide Summer Reading
Program engaging more than 15,000
students reading close to 150,000
books;
- Sponsor
Homework Helper serving more than
1,600 students in 13,000 tutor
sessions at 11Minneapolis
libraries;
- Support
innovative library programs and
classes that serve the needs of
families, immigrants and small
business owners;
- Host more than
70 free cultural programs and
lectures such as Talk of the Stacks,
The People’s University, Working
Through Architecture, Childish
Films, and others; and
- Advocate for
the continued strong public support
of libraries and increased operating
hours.
If you share our belief that open libraries are essential to a well-informed, prosperous community, please consider a membership gift today.
