The Values held by the Friends of the San Diego Public Library are:
Respect for the diversity of our library communities
Empowerment of our members and library supporters
Resourcefulness and Creativity for designing new approaches and solutions for issues facing our libraries
Community by building the social fabric interconnecting various groups and communities
Ethics and Integrity by adhering to the highest standards of operations and accountability
Friends of the San Diego Public Library
Our Vision
The Vision of the Friends of the San Diego Public Library
is a thriving and sustainable library system accessible to all.
Friends of the San Diego Public Library
Financial Support of Our Libraries
FSDPL, together with our affiliate chapters at 33 libraries citywide,
typically raises and donates more than $500,000 per year to support our libraries.
In general, funds raised and donated by Friends of the Library chapters go to support their respective branch libraries.
Funds donated by the "greater" FSDPL are designated for the area(s) of greatest need
and help provide support for libraries in less economically advantaged communities having fewer financial resources,
which frequently include Black Americans, Indigenous Americans and people of color.
Friends of the San Diego Public Library
Scholarships for Library Staff
FSDPL offers the annual John McAllister Memorial Library Scholarship
to assist library staff members pursuing library-related education which helps increase access to the profession,
leading to greater diversity among librarian candidates in our communities.
Friends of the San Diego Public Library
Effective Library Advocacy
FSDPL’s involvement in library advocacy has been focused on improving equity;
during the recent 2021 budget approval process, FSDPL spearheaded the successful effort to keep the Mountain View/Beckwourth Library
from closing and also successfully advocated to maintain Sunday and Monday Library hours,
testifying about the disproportionately adverse impact of loss of library access on underserved communities.
Friends of the San Diego Public Library
Black Lives Matter Resources
To learn more about what you can do, consider exploring the following resources.
Click on each item for detailed information:
FSDPL decries the role that systemic racism has played in the violence sustained disproportionately by Black people in this country,
as well as the inequities in access to education, healthcare, housing, employment, and opportunity in general.
FSDPL supports the right of all people to protest actions of injustice, institutionalized racism, and police racism and violence.
FSDPL condemns the violence that protesters and journalists across the country have faced while exercising their First Amendment rights of peaceful assembly and nonviolent protest.
Consistent with our Values,
which include "Respect for the diversity of our library communities,"
and our Vision
of "a thriving and sustainable library system accessible to all,"
FSDPL has a decades-long history of working tirelessly to promote improved equity in library services across the City, including:
FSDPL wants and needs to do more to explicitly address our society's systemic racism,
which is antithetical to the principles of equality and justice for all on which our country was built.
As an initial action, FSDPL recently approved an additional donation
to support the acquisition by the San Diego Public Library of materials (such as books, e-books and media) related to issues of racism.
FSDPL will intensify efforts to increase the number of community members of color on our Board of Directors.
FSDPL will reach out to Black- and people of color-led organizations for guidance as we explore roles for FSDPL
in creating and supporting appropriate anti-racism programming.
FSDPL will be exploring additional ways in which we can continue to do better as an organization to combat racism.
We welcome comments and suggestions; please contact us at:
info@friendsofsdpl.org.
To learn more about what you can do, consider exploring these resources:
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