The Boulder Library Foundation had humble beginnings. A nonprofit that has supported Boulder’s libraries since 1974, the foundation raised some of its first funds through a bake sale organized by a small handful of people.

Now, as the foundation celebrates its 50th anniversary, those who have championed the city’s libraries marvel at how the foundation, and the library system it supports, have blossomed over the years.

Today, the foundation gives between $250,000 and $600,000 per year in funding to what is now the Boulder Public Library District.

And the district’s libraries offer classes, storytimes, clubs, performances, a literacy program and even open studio time at two library-affiliated makerspaces.

This year alone, the library district opened the new, long-awaited NoBo Library Branch and the Studio 24 makerspace at the NoBo Library, and the foundation had a major hand in funding both projects.

To Kitty deKeiffer, president of the foundation, Boulder’s library system has expanded and evolved to offer much more than just a quiet place to read.

“We look at the library as being a community function, and not just a place where you go into a building and you read books. It is a lot more than that. It’s about teaching our community, helping with their growth … providing public spaces for them and really being partners with the community,” she said.

The foundation’s purpose is to support and raise funds for the Boulder Public Library District.

Voters approved the new property-tax funded library district and repealed Boulder’s municipal control over the library system in 2022.

The district includes Boulder and parts of unincorporated Boulder County, such as Gunbarrel, Gold Hill and Eldorado Springs.

It’s not uncommon in bigger cities for libraries to have foundations supporting them, said library district director David Farnan.

However, in some other cities, the foundation acts more like a fundraising arm of the library district. The Boulder Library Foundation is its own independent entity separate from the district.

When the Boulder library district has a new project or program it wants to try, it pitches the idea to the library foundation, and the foundation decides whether to fund it. If the project is successful, the district can then find a way to fund it going forward so the foundation can fund other new initiatives in the future.

Farnan said he’s been grateful to have access to this “risk money,” which has allowed the district to try new things it might not otherwise have been able to try.

“We could take a chance on a program, an idea that people had. In public service and in public librarianship, it’s just such a rare gift to have consistent funding like that,” he told the Daily Camera.

For example, Farnan said, after the COVID-19 pandemic began, the libraries were forced to cut staff, which he said was “devastating.”

At the time, the library system was about to launch a pilot program that would help families get internet access by loaning out wireless hotspots and offering free wireless access. In addition to funding the program, the library foundation expanded the program a year in and began giving out free devices, such as iPads.

Farnan said the program, which ran for three years, was a huge success, and it funded internet service for school kids as well as seniors in low-income housing. The wireless hotspots are still available to borrow from the district’s libraries.

“For us in the library, (that) was a major contribution that helped motivate staff at a time when things were really hard,” he said.

One of the foundation’s core requirements is that any library program it funds must be offered free to the public so it is accessible to all.

Of course, offering classes, presentations and other programming for free takes funding. The Boulder Library Foundation is funded by foundations, corporations and donors, said deKieffer of the Boulder Library Foundation, and it also receives grant funding. But nearly 90% of its funding comes from individual donors, and many of those donors don’t come from wealth.

“Where I would say we’ve received most of our dollars is from middle-income families who believe in the library, believe in the mission, and believe in what it can accomplish,” she said.

The library foundation was first formed to help Boulder’s libraries administer grant funding. Library commissioner Doris Hass was one of the foundation’s main founders and biggest champions. Julie Hass, Doris Hass’ daughter, said she believes it might have started as an “empty nest” project for her mother, who she called a “compulsive volunteer.”

“She’s always been a very strong supporter of girls education, public access to information and reading books,” said Julie Hass. “As kids, me and my brother, we were taken to the library to check out a whole stack of books. … We were avid library users.”

Doris Hass, now 104 years old, has retired from her involvement with the library foundation. But during her time there, she oversaw a time of incredible growth in the organization, particularly after she enlisted the help of retired Goldman Sachs investor Glenn Korff to bring in more funding. He grew the foundation’s assets by millions of dollars.

Today, the foundation continues to thrive, and the library district has a multimillion-dollar yearly budget (although some of that budget includes money from property taxes). Looking ahead, the district has announced plans to open a new Gunbarrel library branch next year. It is also planning to launch a writing program, similar to the reading and literacy program that has been around for years.

Farnan of the library district said the foundation has been a key partner in helping Boulder’s libraries not only survive, but thrive.

“The foundation here is wonderful to work with for (anything),” he said. “They’ve been doing wonderful work.”