Libraries are an important part of the philanthropic history of the U.S. — and the subject of one of the sector’s most well-known funding efforts. Famously, between the late 19th and early 20th century, Andrew Carnegie, who made his fortune in the steel industry, built thousands of libraries, almost 1,700 of which were located in the U.S.
Public libraries remain popular institutions, with most Americans viewing them as important parts of their communities. Although the primary function of libraries is to lend books, today’s libraries also provide a wide array of essential services, including access to the internet, professional development and training, literacy and ESL programs, tax assistance, programming for children and seniors, and help with applying for public assistance.
Carnegie’s century-old campaign aside, libraries have not been the focus of a particularly robust range of philanthropic commitments in recent years, with some donors seeing them as public institutions that don’t need private support. In part, that perception of libraries reflects patterns established back in Carnegie’s day, when the industrialist “insisted on the condition that the libraries be maintained by the communities they served.” One study of four public libraries in Mississippi found that “philanthropy is a fundamental partner in community wellbeing missions for these libraries even though, as a sector, public libraries measure low in philanthropic support.”
At the same time, despite their overall popularity, public libraries in the U.S. are facing budget cuts and increasing federal pushback. Last month, President Donald Trump issued an executive order eliminating or reducing a number of federal agencies, including the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), which is tasked with overseeing federal grants for the nation’s museums and libraries. Since then, all staff members have been put on administrative leave.
These cuts are part of purported efforts to reduce government waste. However, the IMLS, with its 75-person staff and an annual budget of around $295 million, was already tiny in federal terms.
“To dismiss some 75 committed workers and the mission of an agency that advances opportunity and learning is to dismiss the aspirations and everyday needs of millions of Americans… As seedbeds of literacy and innovation, our nation’s 125,000 public, school, academic and special libraries deserve more, not less support. Libraries of all types translate 0.003% of the federal budget into programs and services used in more than 1.2 billion in-person patron visits every year, and many more virtual visits,” said the American Library Association in a statement.
In recognition of National Library Week, here are some of the current philanthropic backers of libraries — and why funding them is so important right now.
Major philanthropic funders backing libraries
By far, one of the biggest funders of libraries in the U.S. is the Mellon Foundation. Through its Public Knowledge program, Mellon works alongside archives, presses and libraries (ranging from university, public, local, national and global libraries) with the goal of increasing “equitable access to deep knowledge” to build an informed and civically engaged society. The program supports efforts to create and preserve the cultural and scholarly record.
Recent grants include $5 million to the Council on Library and Information Resources, support for Public Library Memory Labs for libraries across the U.S., and grants to the Seattle Public Library’s Library Support Network. Mellon has also backed San Francisco Public Library’s efforts to build capacity for prison library services, Califa Group’s Research Institute for Public Libraries, the Radical Librarian Institute at UCLA, and the American Library Association.
Last year, the Carnegie Corporation of New York renewed its commitment to libraries, which it traces back to its namesake, awarding $4 million in grants to three libraries in New York — Brooklyn Public Library, Queens Public Library and the New York Public Library in Manhattan. The aim is to expand adult language and workforce development services, and teen civics and college access programs. Carnegie also issued a $500,000 grant to the Library of Congress and has announced a $5 million initiative to support public libraries across the nation that are seeking to provide services to under-resourced communities. According to Carnegie, these recent grants are being awarded to “strengthen the role of libraries as trusted community institutions as part of the foundation’s broader commitment to reducing political polarization.”
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation primarily funds libraries through its Communities program. “Knight Foundation has long supported libraries because of the vital role they play in building informed and engaged communities,” Knight wrote. “Libraries function as community centers, resources for government services and important educational spaces. They play a key role in social connectedness, economic opportunity, civic engagement, access to information and technology and more.”
Knight has said it is increasingly focusing on funding innovation in libraries and collaborations to help them adapt to 21st-century needs and preferences. Recent grantees include the American Library Association, Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation, San Jose Public Library Foundation, Digital Public Library of America, LYRASIS, the Association of Research Libraries, the HistoryMakers, Detroit Educational Television Foundation and the James L. Hill Reference Library.
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Between 1997 and 2018, the Gates Library Foundation, a program of the Gates Foundation, awarded more than $1 billion to public libraries in the U.S. and around the globe. It played a significant role in bringing computers and digital information to public libraries, both in the U.S. and Canada. In 2000, it created the Global Libraries program, which reached more than 13,000 public libraries in almost 20 countries across its 20-year history. Although the program ended in 2018, the Gates Foundation continues to fund three legacy partners to continue this work: the Public Library Association, the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, and Technology & Social Change Group at the Information School of the University of Washington.
Gates aside, major living donors haven’t often followed in Carnegie’s footsteps and prioritized libraries in their giving. But there are a few notable examples nonetheless. Investment advisor James Lewis, for instance, recently announced a $25 million commitment to the American Library Association. The association also received a $1 million gift from Solidarity Giving, the philanthropic vehicle of Brian and Tegan Acton of WhatsApp fame.
Other library funders include Ford Foundation, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, Ahmanson Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Freedom Together Foundation, Tocker Foundation and William Penn Foundation.
Libraries are a bulwark against attacks on knowledge and information
The White House’s efforts to cut funding for libraries or outright eliminate the IMLS run parallel to ongoing right-wing attacks against knowledge and information, which span efforts to eliminate the Department of Education and defund Wikipedia, institute book bans, and prohibit public schools from teaching the nation’s history of racism and about gender identity, diversity and other so-called divisive topics.
Combined, these efforts complement the broader right-wing media’s push to “pump out so much slanted news and misinformation that people don’t know what’s real and what’s not, or who to trust — effectively rendering ‘facts’ obsolete,” as IP Editor-in-Chief David Callahan recently put it. In an era of rampant misinformation, libraries are one community-based safeguard against that, serving as bastions of truth and as bulwarks for democracy.
Twenty-one states have filed lawsuits to halt the Trump administration’s order to dismantle the IMLS, arguing that since it was created by Congress, only Congress has the authority to disband it. It is still unclear how the courts will rule or whether the Trump administration will follow judicial orders. Regardless of the outcome, philanthropy may have an increasingly important role to play in funding and protecting public libraries, following in Andrew Carnegie’s footsteps.
In a blog post published by the Mellon Foundation, Emily Drabinski, former president of the American Library Association and associate professor at the Queens College Graduate School of Library and Information Studies, wrote, “We face some challenging weather… Libraries are a kind of shelter, the institution through which we can address so many contemporary challenges. As we fight for the right to read, we also fight for shelters from the storms: our libraries.”
