our history | who we are | newsletter | FAQ

Our History

In the early 1990s Berkeley's Central Library, a national landmark, and its four branches were among the busiest and innovative in California, but suffering from decades of neglect. The City's Board of Library Trustees determined that the system was worn out, overcrowded, seismically unsafe, and unacceptably inaccessible to the disabled.

Community leaders responded with a plan to restore all five libraries to vibrant community centers able to meet the needs of our diverse community. They began with a campaign to expand and refurbish the Central Library, fueled in 1996 by a $30 million bond measure approved by Berkeley voters.

As architects finalized drawings for Central, the Berkeley Public Library Foundation incorporated as a volunteer-based, tax-exempt non-profit dedicated to raising the private funds necessary to turn the beautifully upgraded building into the library our community envisioned. The next four years brought a $4 million "We Love the Library" campaign that provided the furniture, technology, and other interior fittings that by law the bond measure could not fund.

The day the Central Library reopened on April 6, 2002, was a joyous and historic day for the proud citizens of Berkeley!

The Library’s goal is to bring each of our city's four branches - Claremont, North, South, and West - up to the high standards set by the lovely new Central. It will take years, and a mix of public and private funds garnered from many sources. The Library Foundation, together with the Friends of the Library and our entire community, is committed to a long-range branch campaign, and has already raised $300,000 to fund the planning stages of a major renovation of the West Branch.

The Foundation continues to pursue its mission of supporting the Library and its program in many ways.  Currently, in response to the Library’s budget shortfall, we have committed-along with the Friends of the Library--to an Emergency Campaign to raise $300,000 to pay for essential books and materials.