Libraries for the Future Ceases Operations

The national nonprofit organization Libraries for the Future announced March 18 that it has ceased operations. In making the announcement Executive Director Bruce Astrein blamed the economic meltdown that has overtaken the country.

“We have accomplished so many of our initial goals to reestablish the role of libraries at the center of our communities,” said Astrein. “There is more work to be done and it is unfortunate that the current economic climate has made it impossible for us to continue. That is especially true now, as we’ve been hearing from many libraries that the economic downturn has increased demand for library services just as it is squeezing library funding. We are hopeful that public libraries can draw upon LFF’s legacy of programs and resources to mobilize community support for their critical services.”

Libraries for the Future was founded in 1992 and built on the vision of writer and activist Harriet Barlow and a small group of advocates to work for the perpetuation of the public library system in the United States. In subsequent years, LFF’s agenda was to help libraries navigate the transition to the digital age, build community partnerships, and provide a lifetime of services to patrons, all under the leadership of Diantha Dow Schull, a member of the organization’s initial planning team and LFF’s executive director until her retirement last December.

Close to 100 funders contributed to Libraries for the Future over its 17 years, including major support from the Atlantic Philanthropies, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Bush Clinton Katrina Fund, HKH Foundation, W. K. Kellogg Foundation, Jacob and Valeria Langeloth Foundation, Metropolitan Life Foundation, Petersmeyer Family Foundation, and Pritzker Early Childhood Foundation. Library partners, such as the Middle Country Public Library in New York, are planning to continue to oversee the joint Family Place Libraries initiative.

“On behalf of our past and current national board and council members,” said Jeffrey S. Scherer, chair of the LFF board of directors, “we want to express our sincere gratitude to the staff, consultants, and funders who have ensured that meaningful and important services and programs were delivered to the libraries of the United States. Without their resources, dedication, and intelligence, LFF’s mission could not have been accomplished.”

In addition to its advocacy work, LFF hosted forums connecting experts across disciplines, published reports on library use and potential, and developed and oversaw programs that have run or are running in close to 400 libraries in 33 states. LFF programs were aimed at helping libraries address a wide array of issues including early childhood literacy, physical and brain health across the lifespan, the desire of active older adults for meaningful work and community connections, the urgent need for free and reliable consumer health information, and strengthening the role of libraries as vibrant community centers.

The demise of Libraries for the Future follows on the heels of the American Library Association’s establishment of the Office for Library Advocacy and the merging of ALA’s Association of Library Trustees and Advocates division with Friends of Libraries USA into the new Association of Library Trustees, Advocates, Friends, and Foundations (ALTAFF). “While we are sorry to lose an organization like Libraries for the Future,” said ALA Executive Director Keith Michael Fiels, “ALTAFF is ready to fill in the gap and we look forward to working with all the devoted library advocates who gave us 17 years of advocacy through LFF.”

Posted on March 21, 2009. Discuss.

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