Impact and Programs
Accomplishments
As the library’s fundraising partner, Friends of the Hennepin County Library (FHCL) is an active community of 10,000 supporters whose mission is to build awareness, appreciation and support for our nationally-acclaimed library. Each year, FHCL raises significant private support to help Hennepin County Library (HCL) make the wonder of learning and discovery more accessible to all.
HCL is comprised of 41 branches in urban and suburban neighborhoods throughout the county. Each library is a community hub, offering free resources, support and programming to connect people with vital information and education that would otherwise be inaccessible. Two out of three county residents— nearly 850,000 people—have a library card, and HCL hosted 5.5 million visits last year alone.
FHCL’s annual funding supports HCL strategic priorities including programs like Teen Tech Squad and Homework Help; the Library’s new music streaming platform, MnSpin, which features Minnesota musicians; as well as innovative initiatives like Community Embedded Library Service that pairs librarians with local liaisons to extend library services into two underserved areas: the Native American community near Franklin Library in Minneapolis, and the Latinx community near Oxboro Library in Bloomington. Together, Friends of the Hennepin County Library and Hennepin County Library envision a library that ensures every person has the opportunity and resources to read, engage, graduate, work, and learn.
Current Goals
Total 2019 planned Library funding: $1.27 million. Friends of the Hennepin County Library places special emphasis on supporting the Library’s annual strategic priorities including programs like Teen Tech Squad and Homework Help and key initiatives like expanding early learning, extending library services to the Native American community, and Latino and East African immigrant families, and providing outreach services to seniors. Additionally, Friends of the Hennepin County Library will fund expanding and preserving its world-class collections for all.
Community or Constituency Served
As a 501c3 nonprofit organization, Friends of the Hennepin County Library is an active community of 10,000 supporters whose mission is to build awareness, appreciation and support for our world-class library. Together, Friends of the Hennepin County Library and Hennepin County Library envision a library that ensures every person has the opportunity and resources to read, engage, graduate, work, and learn.
Geographic Area Served
We support the library system of Hennepin County in Minnesota.
