Stronger Libraries
Stronger Communities
2021 Annual Report
A message from Executive Director, Rob Hartman
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all of our supporters, DCPLF board members, and the dedicated staff of DC Public Library. DCPLF has been supporting DC Public Library since 1985 - from the creation of the iconic MLK Mural, to summer reading programs, to the arts and exhibition program at the modernized Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library. It has been the Foundation’s great honor to be part of these important, often groundbreaking, programs. In 2021, we continued to grow both financially and through the level of direct support we provide to enhance DC Public Library in its programs and initiatives.
It has been a unique and challenging time for all of us over the last three years – but, together, we’ve moved forward. Since I joined DCPLF I have learned a few important lessons. Primary among them, that Libraries are as important today as they have ever been, not only for the knowledge they hold, but what they stand for as institutions that live, breathe, and play a leadership role in the journey of equitable learning in safe and engaging environments.
DC Public Library has played a particularly important role in 2021. Our libraries served the DC community in new and important ways throughout the year, from creating grab-and-go hands-on learning kits while the libraries were closed to DCPL’s important partnership with DC Health to distribute free COVID tests to the community. I would be remiss if I didn’t take a moment to share the Foundation’s—and the greater DC community’s—deep appreciation for their work. Thank you, DCPL.
There is more work to be done and DCPLF understands the assignment! Please join us as we continue to innovate and educate.
About DC Public Library Foundation
The DC Public Library Foundation partners with DC Public Library to ensure DC’s libraries deliver the highest-quality service to the District’s residents. For 37 years, we have secured private investments to enhance DCPL’s programs and offerings to DC residents of all ages. In 2021, thanks to the generosity of our partners, we launched new, big programs like Beyond the Book and the Dream Makers wall, and continued our ongoing support of DCPL’s legacy programs, like Summer Challenge, supplemental exhibit funding, and programs at individual branch libraries.
Our Board of Directors
CO-CHAIRS
Marquett Smith
Susan B. Haight
TREASURERS
Leroy Clay, III
Contina Harvey
DEVELOPMENT CHAIR
Jenny Backus
NOMINATIONS CHAIR
Tobie Whitman
Bill Alsup
Marc Battle
Ruchi Bhowmik
Paul Choquette, III
Bonnie Cohen
Tammy Gordon
Erin Harkless Moore
Melissa Lavinson
Lilly Minkove
Myrna Peralta
Dr. Beth Reaves
Kelly Skoloda
Beyond the Book Launch
In 2021, the Foundation was thrilled to support the launch of the library's most robust children's program in years: Beyond the Book. This program is an extension of DCPL’s popular Books from Birth and is designed to improve the reading ability for children in grades kindergarten through third. Like Books from Birth, Beyond the Book provides free monthly books to children and families, in addition to literacy programming and support to transition from pre-K to kindergarten, a substantial milestone for many DC families.
So far, the program has enrolled 500 young members, delivered 4,400 books, and distributed 30,000 activity books, developing reader tips, and resource lists. Library staff also assembled 500 reader kits for developing readers in transitional housing.
During the fall and winter months, life-size illustrations from the iconic Caldecott-winning book: The Snowy Day, by Ezra Jack Keats, appeared at Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library to draw in visitors.
In the spring, Beyond the Book featured the celebrated story Last Stop on Market Street, by Matt de la Peña, which won the 2016 Newbery Medal.
This summer's featured book is Lion and the Mouse, by Gerald Rose and Jerry Pinkney, launching at Woodridge Library. To learn more about Beyond the Book, click here.
Illustrations from "The Snowy Day" by Ezra Jack Keats. Courtesy of the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation. Design by Jack Young, GraphicJack, LLC.
DC Public Library Foundation’s Know Your Power program is a civic engagement arts contest
aimed to help teens know—and express—their power. Summer 2021 marked the second year of this remarkable program where teens from across the city engaged in a series of workshops to guide their creative expression, including authoring their own work of creative writing, photography, music production, and visual arts, centered on issues they are passionate about.
In 2021, Know Your Power also hosted several virtual visits from authors in partnership with DC’s Politics and Prose Bookstore, which drew over 600 viewers combined. Featured authors included Tyler Gordon, author of We Can: Portraits of Power; Ron Smith, author of Black Panther; Greg Neri, author of Concrete Cowboy; and Jason A. Reynolds, author of Miles Morales: Shock Waves.
Illustration titled Hidden ADHD by Sarone Terefe, first runner up in the 2021 Know Your Power contest.
Dream Makers Campaign
Our city is a proud place where citizens from all walks of life do great things every day. As engaged members of families, schools, churches and workplaces in our community, we support those around us. As parents, grandparents, educators, employers, caregivers… we teach our children, share words of comfort to those in need, and mentor our colleagues.
Through simple acts, we inspire those around us to follow their dreams.
In 2021, DC Public Library Foundation launched the Dream Makers Campaign to honor Dream Makers at DC’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library. With a simple donation, community members honored their favorite Dream Maker by adding their name virtually and to a new Dream Makers wall on the top floor of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library.
Author Talks
The Foundation proudly supported visits by several luminary authors in 2021. The authors included George M. Johnson, who wrote All Boys Aren't Blue; JP Brammer, author of ¡Hola Papi! How to Come Out in a Walmart Parking Lot and Other Life Lessons; Colson Whitehead, author of Harlem Shuffle and The Underground Railroad; and Nikole Hannah-Jones, creator of 1619 Project.
More than 835 library patrons attended the popular Author Talks and received copies of titles by the authors.
Financials
FY 1/1/2021-12/31/2021
Thank You Donors
Over
$2,500,000
Jeff Bezos
$100,000-
$2,499,999
Michael Klein And Joan Fabry
Bonnie & Lou Cohen
$10,000-
$99,999
DC Campaign To Prevent Teen Pregnancy
DowntownDC Business Improvement District
Mary Graham
Seattle Public Library with the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences
James Lewis
Ted Leonsis
Robert I. Schattner Foundation
Dan Yates & Tobie Whitman
$2,500-
$9,999
Anonymous
David Aaronson
Sunny and Bill Alsup
Mary Beale
Nick Burger
Friends Of The Cleveland Park Library
Graham Holdings
Susan B. Haight
Andrew Haworth
Host Hotels And Resorts
Lloyd A. Fry Foundation
Erin Harkless Moore
Nussdorf Family Foundation
The Phillips Collection
Molly Sampson
Greg And Joan Sarfino
Samuel M. Levy Family Foundation
Kelly Skoloda
Marquett Smith
$500-
$2,499
Amazon.com
Katie Aiello-Howard
Dale Appleman
Jenny Backus
Diana Bauer
Meade Berman
Ruchi Bhowmik
Jessica Boger
Alexandra Burns
Sally Cameron
Paul Choquette, III
Allison Clausen
Leroy Clay, III
Juan Cockburn
Ginnie Cooper
Maureen Duignan
David Elfin
Sarah Feinmann
Robert Frazier
Friends of the MLK Library
Friends of the Mount Pleasant Library
Friends of the Southwest Library
Anna Fuhrman
Ethan Gacek
Steve Gorniak
Margaret Grandine
Suzanne Guardia
Gail Harmon
Robert Hartman
Contina Harvey
Giselle Hicks
John Hill
Cathy Macneil & Mark Hollinger
Myra Holsinger
Edward Kaplan
Gwendolyn & Colbert King
Lindsay Kitzinger
Jennifer Knoll
Pamela Knott
Elizabeth Kraft
Barbara Kraft
Daniel Pink & Jessica Lerner
Bryan Lincoln
Sarah Maguire
Mary Mccall
Jordan Meyer
Lilly Liu & Eric F. Minkove
Stefano Negri
Akemi Nishida
Geoff Patterson
Richard Reyes-Gavilan
T. Sherwood Robinson
Theresa Russo
Joseph Sellers
Share Fund
Jenna Stark
Vivian & Julian Suchman
Thomas Sullivan
Matthew Tanner
Emily Ullman
Stephanie Wang
West End Library Friends
Wilber Family Fund
Whelihan Foundation
Juan & Delise Williams
Melissa Wyers
Chris Zimmerman
Diane Zipursky
$100-
$499
VVenessa Acham
Kaya Adams
Christine G. Adams
Jonathan Greenblatt & Linda Adams
Rebecca Aftowicz
Paul Albergo
Neil Albert
Martin Allen
Deborah Ambers
Caroline Angelo
Anonymous
Shanel Anthony
Amy Argetsinger
Charles Armstrong
Odunlami Aromire
Lauren Auerbach
Evania Baginski
Thayer Baine
Violet Baker
Nancy & Dan Balz
Linda Baron
Mel & James Bass
Mackensey Bauman
Margaret Berkey
Katherin Bissell
Dorothy Black
Amy Borrus
Charles Francis & Stephen Bottum
Barbara Bramble
Han Breadnan
Sue Bremner
Nancy Breslin
Andrea Wolfman & William Brighton
Cynthia Brock-Smith
William Brown
Adrian Browner
Judy Buelow
Benjamin Cady
Sarah Caldwell
N'Jameh Camara
Asimina Caminis
Priya Cariappa
Kay Casstevens
Lisa Chang
Stephen Cheng
Jason Cherkis
Irene Cheung
Yuanyuan Chock
Emily Cloyd
Ken Cluskey
Eli Cohen
Sarah Cohen
Kelsey Cohen
Kathyanne Cohen
Peter Cohn
Rubie Coles
Susan Connolly
Susan Conway
Daniel Conway
Beverly & Melvin Cook
Ann Louise & Edward Cowan
Mary Ann Cronin
Ryan Crowley
Melanie & Frederick Dann
Richard Darilek
Frank Daspit
Andrew Dauber
Clara David
Linda Davis
Mark Dedrick
Carol Delany
Kruti Desai
Robin Diener
Kimberly Dixon
Jamila Frone
Alison Games
David Garlock
Barbara Garlock
Katherine Garrett
Nancy Garruba
Jennifer Gelman
Mary Gersema
Jack Gibbons
Jo Anne & Benjamin Ginsberg
Robin Glantz
Stephanie Gober
Jack Gold
Ellen Goldstein
Ted Gong
Wilhelmina Gottschalk
Laura Graham
Jennifer Gray
Andrew Green
Deborah Greenstein
Nora Grimes
Michal Gross
Andrea Gudeon
Dorothy Gusler
Sara Guthrie
Stacy Brustin & Jeffrey Gutman
Sarah Guy
Scott Hahn
Lisa Hamerstone
Margaret Hardon
Caroline Harlow
Carly Hawkins
Hala Harik Hayes
Julia Hedlund
Paul W. Hegarty
Lynne Heilbrunn
Kirby Heller
Margaret Hennessey
Jane Henrici
Bruce Herr, Jr.
Sonia Herson
Kathryn & Walter Hill
Richard Hinds
David, Glynis, Quinn, and Jonah Hirsch
Maya Ajmera & David Hollander, Jr.
Edward Hopkins
Kelly Horne
Martin Hrivnak
Deh-I Hsiung
Richard & John Neral Huffine
Barbara Humphrys
Sharisse Hunt
Dale Hunt
Maha Hussain
Sandra Hussey
Helen Ingalls
Han Jang
Elise Jason
Elizabeth Jenkins-Joffe
Sejal Jhaveri
Joan E. Kane
Linda Kaplan
Ross Kaplan
Anna Katt
Haley Kaufman
Gale Kaufmann
Timothy Kearns
Helen & David Kenney
Samuel Kilpatrick
Julia Kim
Meri Kolbrener
Nicole Kolinski
Mary Kramer
Dina Kraus
Madeleine Kraus
Chris Kuang
Jade Lamb
Erin Lambie
Katherine Lamm
Lamond-Riggs Library Friends
Julie Langsdorf
Melissa Lavinson
Keith Lawrence
Ebony Lea
Barbara Leckie
Charlotte Legates
Wilhelmina Leigh
Susan Page & Carl P. Leubsdorf
Richard Levin
Mary Alice Levine
Yiming Li
Kenneth Lin
Flora Lindsay-Herrera
Emma Llanso
Lee Lockwood
Carol Lowe
Sean Lynch
Colin Macdonald
Laura Marks
Charles Martin
Noah Martin
Susan McDaid
Kathe & William McDaniels
Margaret McDonald
Stephen McFate
Patricia McIlreavy
Benjamin Merrion
Joel Meyer
Greg Meyer
Lucy Meyer
Marcy-Ann Meyer
Richard Moe
Myntoleah Monash
Michael Mosettig
Benjamin Moskowitz
Amy Muhlberg
Barbara I. Murphy
Mark F. Murphy
Vani Murugesan
Whitney Muse
Anne Musica
Thomas Natan
Kalyan Neelamraju
Elizabeth Neeley
Steven Newpol
Stephen Norton
Jessica Notebaert
Jennifer Novotney
Leslie Oberdorfer
Allison Orris
Katherine Orton
Thomas Oscherwitz
Paul O'Shea
Leonard Pace
Christine Weiner & Richard D. Paisner Fund
Phoebe Papageorgiou
Eloise Parker
Moushumi Paul
George Pelecanos
Karen Pence
Adam Perry
Skye Perryman
Louis Perwien
Helen & Ralph Petersberger
Cassandra Phillips
Sarah Pinsky
Ann Marie Plubell
Casey Pola
Lisa Polisar
Libbie Prescott
Pravina Raghavan
Edith Carmen Ramirez
Teresa Rankin
Micah Ratner
Raytheon
John Rentzepis
Jason Rhee
Jennifer Riddell
Jill Robinson
Alita & Rick Rogers
Michael & Alexis Ronickher
Ashleigh Rose
Sam Rosen-Amy
H. David Rosenbloom
Judah Rosner
Richard Rubin
Virginia Rutter
Martha Saccocio
Michael Sachse
Keetah Salazar-Thompson
Jean Samuels
Adam Sarvana
Ann Satterthwaite
Elizabeth Saunders
Stephen Sawicki
Chrys Sbily
Joyce Scall
Lisa Scanlon
Susan Scheck
Schmidt Ocean Institute
Lois Schiffer
Greg Schuler
James Schweitzer
Rebecca Scott
Kilkil Shah
Christopher Sipes
Jonathan Skovholt
Sally Sloan
Jonathan Smallridge
Paul Smith
Corinne Smith
Sarah Snouffer
Gillian Spolarich
Jayne Spring
Stephen Staudigl
Sarah Steele
Rina Steinberg
Karene Steiner
Carol F. Stoel
Scot Stone
Sylvia Stribling
Judith Strotz
Thomas Susman
Jennifer Swize
Susan Szmania
Patricia E. Talbert Smith
Brian Tashman
Ann Tedford
Sheila Thalhimer
Ashley Thayer
The Petworth Library Friends
Manon Theroux
Ida T. Tobe
Helene Toiv
Patricia Tuohy
Turn to the Wonderful
Sharon Turner
United Way of the National Capital Area
Melissa Varga
Ann Vaughn
Serena Viswanathan
Denise Vogt
Maria Volpe
Chris Walker
Elyse Wasch
Matthew Watson
Allison Waxler
Andrea Weddle
Robert Weinberger
Stefanie Weiss
Diane & David Weisz
Linda & Steve Weitz
Fredric Westendorf
Arthur & Perry Wheelock
Anntoinette White-Richardson
Jalisa Whitley
Gerard Widdicombe
Mathew Williams
Claudia Withers
Michael Witmore
Robert Wittes
C.B. Wooldridge
Helena Wright
Carol Wu
Irene Wu
Tricia Wyse
Sandra Yarrington
Merel Young
Marta Zeymo
Michael Zoeller