Incorporated in 1974, the foundation was formed as a way for people to directly support the library and its programs — outside of the city budgeting process. That support has been critical as library attendance and subsequent programming has grown exponentially while the operating budget has remained relatively unchanged over the last 15 years. Even today, as there is increased conversation about the need to establish permanent and sustainable funding streams for the library, our role and support, as the foundation, has never been more critical as we look to the future.

Moving past attendance, the library enjoys substantial volunteer support.  Last year more than 1,000 community members donated over 18,000 hours, or the equivalent of 11 full time staff.  These volunteers are absolutely critical to the success of the library because the Boulder Public Library has operated without a substantial increase in operating funding since 2002.  That’s right, as library attendance increased by more than 33% since 2002, the operating budget has remained flat – for the last 17 years.

First, we can’t thank the residents of Boulder enough for their support of our Boulder Public Library. Since 1974 we have been funding nearly 90% of all programming at BPL – from Summer of Discovery (summer reading program) to BLDG 61 (our amazing makerspace), and dozens of other programs. Our work wouldn’t be possible without your support – a heartfelt THANK YOU!

When some communities are seeing Libraries close their branches, the Boulder voters voted on a new Library branch getting built through a 2017 ballot initiative to the tune of $5 million. That is a great start! The new Library will be located at Broadway and Rosewood in North Boulder.