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Report regarding a resolution authorizing the acceptance of $10,000 from the Carnegie Foundation to support and enhance library services at the Grand Avenue Library and approving Budget Amendment Number 26.037. (Valerie Sommer, Library Director)
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RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
It is recommended that the City Council adopt a resolution authorizing the acceptance of $10,000 from the Carnegie Foundation and amend the Library Department's fiscal year 2025-26 Operating Budget via Budget Amendment Number 26.037.
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BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION
The Library Department has been awarded $10,000 from the Carnegie Foundation as part of the Foundation's initiative to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence by highlighting the way public libraries support an open and democratic society. The Foundation is donating funds to those currently operating public libraries whose construction had been originally funded with money from industrialist Andrew Carnegie in the early twentieth century.
In 1914, Andrew Carnegie donated $10,000 to support the construction of the Grand Avenue Library on City-owned land in downtown South San Francisco. This followed grassroots efforts led by local teacher Rue Clifford, who on horseback, gathered signatures as evidence of community support for construction of the library.
The Grand Avenue Library has continued to operate as a public library since its opening in 1916 It acted as the sole public library in the city until the construction of the West Orange Library in 1966.
Since 1916, the Grand Avenue Library has significantly transformed its services and facility footprint to optimize services to residents. This includes remodels and additions in the 1940's, 1950's, 1980's, and as recently as 2016, when significant renovation added new furnishings, bathrooms, a patio, a community classroom, and state-of-the-art technology to the library.
The Grand Avenue Library continues to provide impo...
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