History

The San Diego Public Library Foundation was launched in 2002 when a group of motivated and concerned community leaders joined to focus their energy and attention on providing private support to build an outstanding library system in San Diego.

Since then, strong volunteer leadership has allowed the Foundation to raise more than $50 million in private funds to augment and support library programs, collections and services. Foundation support has been central to:

• Expanding collections throughout the system;
• Providing Sunday hours at certain locations;
• Building seven new library branches and improving existing branches;
• Allowing the City to begin construction of San Diego's New Central Library,
• Helping the Friends of the Library meet the City Matching Fund for seven consecutive years, providing millions of additional dollars in funding for books and resources;
• Enhancing crucial programs such as the Summer Reading Program; and
• Establishing new programs and services, such as Live Homework Help.