Friends of the Library
Denver Public Library Friends Foundation Champions of Community
Photos Courtesy of Denver Public Library Friends Foundation
In a city as vibrant and fast-growing as Denver, it’s easy to assume tax dollars cover everything. But behind the scenes at the Denver Public Library, a separate nonprofit—the Denver Public Library Friends Foundation—plays a critical role in ensuring that the library system can thrive.
Because the library is a city and county of Denver agency, staff cannot fundraise or advocate on its behalf. Since 1940, the Friends Foundation has filled that gap, raising private dollars and mobilizing community advocates to support the library’s evolving needs.
With 28 branches (and more on the way); mobile services making more than 2,000 stops annually; and roughly 7,400 daily visitors, the library system’s reach is vast. Tax funding provides essential infrastructure, but philanthropy fills critical gaps—from offsetting inflation-driven construction shortfalls to funding programs like Read Aloud, a preschool literacy initiative serving thousands of Head Start classrooms. Through Read Aloud, volunteers visit weekly, and children receive books to build home libraries of their own.
“Tax dollars can only go so far,” says the foundation’s executive director, Katy Anderson. “Private philanthropy allows the library to stay responsive—to meet emerging needs and to serve people in ways the city budget simply can’t.”
The foundation also supports mobile services that bring books and resources to nursing homes, schools without libraries, and residents with limited mobility. And when donors want to make a deeper impact, the foundation connects their passions to the library’s priorities—ensuring that gifts are both meaningful and mission-aligned.
Beyond books, Anderson says, the library is fundamentally about connection. “The library enriches people’s lives and gives people the opportunity to connect and build civic engagement,” she explains. “Whether you’re a month old or 100 years old, there’s something for you at the library.” Even those who rarely step inside a branch often care deeply that the services exist—for a retired parent navigating technology, a socially isolated neighbor or a child discovering reading for the first time.
At a time of municipal budget deficits and growing pressures on public institutions, the Friends Foundation’s work feels especially urgent. “We cannot take public libraries for granted,” Anderson says. “They are one of the few free, open spaces left where everyone is treated with dignity and respect.” In many ways, Denver’s libraries remain the great equalizer—and a cornerstone of a healthy democracy.
Denver Public Library Friends Foundation
10 W. 14th Ave. Parkway, Denver
