The Library Foundation is committed to library excellence by delivering several programs promoting early learning to lifelong learning, providing resources for job training and life skills, encouraging families through interaction, and gathering our neighbors together for entertaining. Libraries can change, even transform lives!\u00a0North Texas Giving Day is great way to support the FWPLF\u2019s mission to serve the community through special library programs.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
The Foundation celebrated its 20th<\/sup>\u00a0Anniversary of supporting the Library in April 2013. The Fort Worth Public Library Foundation has provided more than $9,000,000 in private funding to benefit the Fort Worth Library system. This public-private partnership has completed many significant infrastructure projects with the support of our donors. These include the Central Library Expansion Project to address structural flaws of more than 100 leaks in the existing facility which endangered materials, helping fund the Library\u2019s first Master Plan, funding the Library\u2019s inventory system, improving the library\u2019s materials, supporting renovation of Northside Branch, providing funding to complete Northwest Branch, and updating the Central Library Gallery\u00a0Complex with new acoustics, lighting, furnishings, paint, and refinished flooring. In 2014, renovations were made to the youth area in every location. 2015 featured the completion of The Sid W. Richardson Discovery Theatre renovation at the Central Library which offers distance learning programming while Fast Track to Reading is a racing themed area promoting family reading.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Educational programming has been a longtime focus of the Foundation\u2019s mission. The Foundation initiated the\u00a0Children\u2019s Author Series<\/strong>\u00a0in 1997. The series brings together young children with working authors to learn how they create their stories which inspires young minds to read and write. More than 44,000 schoolchildren have enjoyed a free live author presentation in a library or school.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n In 2008, the Foundation designed and implemented\u00a0Priority Literacy<\/strong>\u00a0in the northern branches of the Fort Worth Library. The free one-to-one tutoring program provides adult students with individualized assistance in learning four vital language skills: listening, reading, writing and speaking. 30 pairs of volunteer tutors and students work together in Library locations. Funding for this program ended in 2017.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n The\u00a0Launch Pad<\/strong>\u00a0College Application program was initiated in 2009 as a free program to put the universe of college education within grasp through a broad array of college application services presented in public schools and seminars offered at the Library. In 2016-17, the program coordinator helped more than 1,600 students with various parts of the process and 178 students through the yearlong comprehensive process to gain college acceptance\u00a0resulting in multiple college acceptances and $3.4 million in merit scholarships<\/strong>. A presentation to senior English teachers in the Fort Worth Independent School District resulted in counseling opportunities with nearly every senior and junior student in several high schools representing a wide variety of populations, including Arlington Heights, Eastern Hills, North Side, Paschal, Southwest, Trimble Tech and the Texas Academy of Biological Sciences, a specialty program of the FWISD.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n In 2014, generous donor seed funding implemented a family reading program. Focused on families with children ages 6-10, 25 families pre-registered for the 6 week pilot which included a healthy snack and reading as a group, followed by a guided discussion with humanities themes such as fairness, determination, respect and others. Observations such as attendance, participant enthusiasm and increased familiarity with library offerings showed the success of the program with average attendance of 44 participants in 2014-15. Expansion of\u00a0Families Reading Together<\/strong>\u00a0continued in 2016, with a pre-school program for parents and children aged 3-5 years old. Additional sites were utilized to reach different neighborhoods.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n The Foundation works to increase awareness of the library\u2019s assets in our community by supporting a variety of programs at the library\u2019s request, including early learning programs like\u00a0Early Childhood Matters\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Music Together\u00a0<\/strong>and adult programs such as the\u00a03rd Thursday Jazz Series.<\/strong>\u00a0In 2016,\u00a0Travel Talks<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Books That Cook\u00a0<\/strong>were launched to bring awareness to the Passport Acceptance Facility for travel enthusiasts and the FWL\u2019s collection of 3,600 cookbooks available to the Foodie community.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Through numerous community outreach events, thousands have developed an appreciation for our library system. Your support during\u00a0North Texas Giving Day\u00a0ensures that our continued partnership with the Fort Worth Library offers community programs that help our city thrive.<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Library Foundation is committed to library excellence by delivering several programs promoting early learning to lifelong learning, providing resources for job training and life skills, encouraging families through interaction, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":522,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\n