Mission
 2500 people visit the Central Library each day |
What brings you to Phoenix Public Library?
Children come to pick out a book and enter a new world. Teens rediscover the Library as a cool place to meet friends and do homework. Adults learn to use a computer and improve skills that help them find better jobs.
The Foundation was created in 1997 to raise money for Library programs and services. We support reading programs for children and adults, purchase computers and fund programs that help people learn to use technology, and furnish spaces that make the Library a great place to curl up with a good book.
While tax dollars keep the lights on, buildings open, and materials on the shelves, the Library can be so much more. That's what the Foundation does -- it makes a good library a great one -- with your help.
What We Fund
Since 1997, the Foundation has raised more than $3 million to support Library programs and services. Recent accomplishments include:
- “Catch BookBreath @ your Phoenix Public Library” – a system-wide program encouraging children to read by offering incentives for the number of books read (or for being read to for those too young to read on their own). In 2007 – the program’s fifth year, more than 27,000 children throughout Phoenix participated, with more than 6,000 children completing the program and earning all their incentives.
- “Game Face: What Does a Female Athlete Look Like?” – from March 12 to May 21, 2006, more than 5,000 people visited Burton Barr Central Library to view this nationally-touring exhibition. It was unveiled at the Smithsonian Institution in celebration of the 30th anniversary of Title IX, the exhibit explores the experience of the female athlete through 139 photographs. Athletes represented in the photos span the range of amateur to Olympic and professional, including young girls twirling batons on a beach, elderly women doing water ballet, a woman runner who is a double amputee, and many others.
- Teen Summer Reading 2006 – between May 30 and July 29, more than 5,000 teens attended programs on cartooning, fabric art, and t-shirt design. Two libraries hosted a teen rock band from Michigan, members of which discussed with program participants their perspective on writing and recording music, and forming a band.
Board of Directors
Karen Abraham, Secretary/Treasurer Leezie Kim
BlueCross BlueShield of Arizona Quarles & Brady
Joshua Aylesworth Heidi Kimball, Vice President
Wachovia Securities Sunbelt Holdings
Susan Doria Laura Lo Bianco, President
Community Member Fennemore Craig
Shawn Dralle Danielle Malody
RBC Capital Markets Snell & Wilmer
Toni Garvey, Ex-Officio Kathy Mark
City Librarian Merrill Lynch
Jason Peterson, Ex- Officio Liaison Sallie Brophy Najafi
Friends of the Phoenix Public Library Community Member
David Howell Suzanne Pfister
Wells Fargo St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center
Yvonne Hunter Kenneth W. Reeves III
Arizona Public Service Company Northern Trust, NA
Chuck Kelly Diane Wendt
State Farm Insurance UniVentures, Inc.