FRIENDS OF THE SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY RECEIVES $1 MILLION GRANT FROM THE KORET FOUNDATION

Grant marks mid-way point in $16 million capital campaign

San Francisco, CA— Friends of the San Francisco Public Library announced today that it has been awarded a $1 million grant from the Koret Foundation for the Neighborhood Library Campaign.  The Campaign, which is renovating and building new libraries throughout San Francisco, supports the largest building project in the history of the San Francisco Public Library. 

The Koret Foundation grant marks a Campaign milestone—the midway point—with $8 million of $16 million dollars having been raised.  The Koret Foundation joins thousands of donors at every level who are supporting libraries and making a dramatic impact on the economic vitality of San Francisco’s neighborhoods. 

“This extraordinary grant empowers the Neighborhood Library Campaign at a critical juncture,” said Donna Bero, executive director of Friends of the San Francisco Public Library.  “Having reached the mid-way point of the Campaign, we are delivering on the promise, made overwhelmingly by San Francisco voters, to dramatically strengthen our library system.  Libraries today are focal points for vibrant, healthy communities, and we are thrilled to work with remarkable partners like the Koret Foundation to ensure their vitality.”

“We are pleased to support this public-private partnership to strengthen our city’s libraries,” said Koret CEO Jeff Farber. “By approving a bond measure to support this project, the voters of the City and County of San Francisco have provided a well-structured opportunity to leverage our investment for a high-impact outcome.” 

“The San Francisco Public Library is grateful to the Koret Foundation for their extraordinary generosity and commitment to the success of the Branch Library Improvement Program,” added Luis Herrera, City Librarian for San Francisco.  “Through their partnership with the Friends, they are helping create a legacy of 21st Century Libraries that will benefit all San Franciscans for generations to come.”

The Campaign and the Branch Library Improvement Program are bringing San Francisco libraries into the 21st century.  Sixteen neighborhood libraries are being renovated, and eight branches are moving from small, leased spaces to larger, new city-owned buildings.  And in Mission Bay, the first new branch library in more than forty years is already anchoring a growing neighborhood.  

The Friends of the San Francisco Public Library’s Neighborhood Library Campaign is raising the much-needed funds to equip and furnish these twenty-four branches.  The $16 million Campaign will provide library users with current technology, comfortable furniture, program facilities and enhanced staff areas.  These efforts are strengthening communities, promoting access to knowledge, supporting education, and making San Francisco a better place to live. 

The grant from the Koret Foundation will be acknowledged by the Koret Reading Room at the newly renovated Richmond/Senator Milton Marks Branch Library.  This historic branch was built in 1914, as a result of Andrew Carnegie’s landmark grant of $750,000 to San Francisco for the construction of a main library and several branch libraries.  The Richmond Branch Library was the first library building to be constructed with Carnegie funds.  After its renovation, it will be the second largest branch in the San Francisco Public Library system. 

An entrepreneurial spirit guides Koret in addressing societal challenges and strengthening Bay Area life.  Investing in strategic, local solutions, Koret helps to inspire a multiplier effect – encouraging collaborative funding and developing model initiatives.

In the San Francisco Bay Area, Koret adds to the region’s vitality by promoting educational opportunity, contributing to a diverse cultural landscape, and bolstering organizations that are innovative in their approaches to meeting community needs.  The Koret Foundation has been a remarkable supporter of the San Francisco Public Library; over ten years ago, the Foundation helped make the new Main Library a reality by awarding the leadership gift to the Main Campaign.  The Koret Auditorium at San Francisco Public Library is well-known throughout the Bay Area as an important lecture, performance and media venue, and as a critical resource for the community.