About Us

Our Mission

The King County Library System Foundation promotes literacy, learning, and libraries by providing support beyond public funding for initiatives and resources that enable the King County Library System to better serve the needs of our community.

Our Programs

The King County Library System Foundation creates opportunities to bring literacy, learning, and library access to all members of our diverse community. The KCLS Foundation provides the venture capital for library initiatives that address community needs, the funding for value-added programs and resources, and the vision to ensure that our public library system is vibrant, relevant, and central to our lives. Click here for more information about currently funded projects.

News & Information

• 	It’s Fun and Easy to be a Summer Reader! Discover what is buzzing at your library this summer by catching the reading bug and participating in your local library’s summer reading program. The fun begins on June 16. Don’t let the summer fly by without reading a book and visiting your library. Pizza Hut encourages kids to read and is a major supporter of the Summer Reading Program, providing free personal pan pizzas to young readers who reach the 500 readingminute mark. And, there is a special finisher prize to kids who reach their 1,000 reading-minute goals. Plus: finishers qualify to win laptop computers. CDW, an information technology products and services company, is providing three laptop computers for the Summer Reading Program. These are grand prizes in the north, east, and south regions. New this year is a Preschool Summer Reading Game with programs and activities created just for this age group. Last year, more than 33,000 kids participated in the Summer Reading Program and 16,000 eager readers reached their 1,000-minute goal. For teens, the library will once again feature the popular Read 3, Get 1 Free: Summer Edition. This year teens will be able to video themselves presenting a book talk or book trailer and uploading it to YouTube through KCLS. Entries will be judged and the winner will receive a Flip camera and the runners-up will receive a Muvo MP3 player. Last year teens throughout King County turned in more than 6,800 entries. “Summer is a great time for exploring new authors and books, expanding reading horizons, and enhancing reading skills. We are pleased to provide support for the program, including the buses that bring summer school students to the library for programs,” said Dean Smith, KCLS Foundation President. For more information on summer reading activities visit our SRP pages in June 2008.
  “Fiestas de Alfabetización” Help Spanish-speakers Master Early Literacy Skills In response to the growing number of Spanish-speakers in our service area, King County Library System and the KCLS Foundation created a specific Early Literacy program– Fiestas de Alfabetización–that teaches parents and childcare providers how to teach pre-reading skills to preschool children. The program uses the successful Ready to Read program and presents information in a familyfriendly series of social gatherings in the neighborhoods where Spanish-speakers live. In the first two series (spring 2007 and fall 2007), 235 parents and caregivers participated in the series. “Many of us didn’t know how to help our kids get ready for kindergarten, but now we have skills and tools that will help our children to be ready to learn,” said Xiomara Melgar, a Fiestas facilitator at the Kent Regional Library. “We want KCLS and the Foundation to know how much we appreciate this program.” “The fact that the library cares enough to reach out to people who often feel isolated resonates very strongly in this community,” said KCLS Fiestas Project Coordinator Karina Kawaguchi. “They are learning about our libraries and the services available to them, they are learning new skills and teaching those skills to others, they are feeling more connected to their communities, and they are strengthening bonds with their children, which is a key component of child development.” The Fiestas program focuses on teaching parents and caregivers to read and/or tell stories to their children every day, as doing so is an important indicator of early learning. A study by the Society for Research in Child Development found that Spanish-speaking mothers who read to their children every day have threeyear- olds with greater language and cognitive development than children who lack this daily reading time. This study also found that Spanishspeaking families tended not to have access to picture books in their homes and recommended that “libraries, intervention programs and commercial vendors increase the availability of picture books with language and cultural themes of interest to non-English speaking families.” Providing free books to build home libraries is an important aspect of the Fiestas program. “Our vision is that all children in our community will be ready to read by their first day of school,” said Jeanne Thorsen, KCLS Foundation Executive Director. The Fiestas series continues this spring and the KCLS Foundation is seeking additional support for a fall series. For more information about Fiestas de Alfabetización, contact Claire Wilkinson in the KCLS Foundation office at cwilkins@kcls.org or 425.369.3448. Return to top
  KCLS Foundation and Friends Offer Community Literacy Programs The KCLS Foundation is pleased to be a partner with local Friends of the Library groups in bringing innovative literacy programs to our communities in 2008. Early Literacy Connections/Connectors: Story times, musical, and creative movement programs for very young children that develop early literacy skills at the Newport Way Library. Book Shelf Connection: Promoting visits to the library and providing books and reading opportunities at the Issaquah Valley Community Services Food and Clothing Bank. English for Spanish Speakers: Using a family literacy model with a focus on helping immigrants improve their language skills, this program makes it possible for participants to overcome language barriers and to visit the Library Connection @ Crossroads and learn about resources, programs, and collections. Books for Babies: Friends groups in South King County have provided support–and the Foundation has matched their gifts–for Books for Babies for several years. In 2008, the program will become an integral component of the KCLS Ready to Read and Early Literacy programs. Working with Public Health nurses, who distribute the books and talk with low-income parents of newborns about the importance of reading to and with their children, the program will expand the number of distribution sites in South King County in 2008. 51-derful Years: The Bellevue Friends of the Library are hosting several events to celebrate their anniversary. The Foundation will co-sponsor a visit by author Alexander McCall Smith in the fall of 2008.
  Literary Lions A record audience of 320 guests attended the Literary Lions Gala, March 8, at the Bellevue Regional Library. Emcee Nancy Pearl and keynote speaker Timothy Egan endorsed the value of libraries in their presentations. Thirty talented Northwest authors attended the event, and guests purchased books, literary silent auction items, and supported the KCLS Foundation. Timothy Egan said, “I loved that evening! But what was not to like: good food, good wine, good cause, good people, all joined by a love of books.” Thank you to our major sponsors: Authors Circle Bill & Melinda Gates Foundtion Covenant Mortgage Corporation Davis Wright Tremaine K&L Gates Puget Sound Energy Starbucks Coffee Company Readers Circle Bellevue Friends of the Library BNBuilders, Inc. Deloitte Garvey Schubert Barer Integrus Architecture Metrovation Resources Global Professionals Ruffcorn Mott Hinthorne Stine Technical Furniture Systems And, thank you to this year’s Literary Lions, the talented authors who provide us so much reading pleasure: Greg Bear Dia Calhoun William Dietrich Arthur Dorros Robert Dugoni Kelley Eskridge Clyde W. Ford Anu Garg Brenda Z. Guiberson Nancy Horan Stephanie Kallos Nina Laden Mike Lawson Mark Lindquist David Long John J. Nance Kevin O’Brien Julie Paschkis Jane Porter Jennie Shortridge Garth Stein Jess Walter Richard Jesse Watson Allen Wyler Return to top
  Investing in a New Generation of Librarians The KCLS Foundation annually supports KCLS staff members who seek to expand their knowledge, skills, and horizons as they pursue master’s degrees in library and information science. In 2007, the Foundation awarded six scholarships to six talented individuals enrolled in the University of Washington’s iSchool and in distance learning programs. Investing in the next generation of librarians convinces me of the importance of ‘paying it forward’ and of stepping up to invest in those who will enter this field after me,” said Michelle Wong, in the KCLS Collection Management Services department. For more information, contact Jeanne Thorsen at 425.369.3450 or jthorsen@kcls.org. Please Answer the Call for Literacy This summer the KCLS Foundation will be calling to ask for your support. We greatly appreciate pledges and gifts. If you would like to opt out of the calling list, please email Claire Wilkinson at cwilkins@kcls.org or call her at 425.369.3448. Thank you. Return to top
  Leave a Legacy to KCLS Foundation Whether you think of yourself as rich or poor, or somewhere in between, you can make a difference in the lives of people throughout the KCLS service area for generations to come by including the KCLS Foundation in your will or estate plans. Getting started is easy to do. Make sure that you have an up-to-date will (or living trust) that includes your charitable objectives. Think of the KCLS Foundation (or all of your favorite charities) as an additional child in your estate plan. Contact your financial advisors (lawyer, accountant, financial planner, etc.) and ask for help in establishing charitable gifts. Think beyond cash: you can leave stocks, bonds, real estate, insurance policies, and personal property to the KCLS Foundation and the other charities you care about. Your retirement assets (including IRAs, annuities, pension plan, etc.) make a wonderful gift because they pass tax-free to the KCLS Foundation. Some charitable gifts can result in lifetime payments to you and/or other persons. There are many creative, tax-advantaged ways to make a charitable gift. For more information on how you can leave a legacy by including a charitable bequest to the KCLS Foundation in your will or make a gift to the KCLS Foundation in your estate plan, contact (Mr.) Lynn G. Schrader, CFRE, Director of Major & Planned Gifts, by email at lgschrader@kcls.org or phone at 425.369.3225.
  KCLS Foundation Board of Directors President Dean Smith Optime Capital Management Past President Mark Hulak Microsoft Corporation Vice President Kathryn A. Brown Attorney and Community Leader Secretary Pamela Martin Attorney and Community Leader Treasurer Debbie Kuehner Expedia, Inc. Thomas H. Barr Starbucks Coffee Company Mark Berry Davis Wright Tremaine LLP Teresa Byers Garvey Schubert Barer Raymond Chan Avaya Global Services Hon. Richard Eadie Liaison, KCLS Board of Trustees Jim Ewel GoAhead Software Karen E. Glover K&L Gates Susan Hempstead Puget Sound Energy Marcia Kuszmaul Microsoft Corporation Wai-Fong Lee Seattle Central Community College Richard Luce Community Leader Bill Ptacek Liaison, King County Library System Emily Rollins Deloitte & Touche LLP Berta S. Seltzer Community Leader Julia P. Shaw Community Leader James S. Wigfall The Boeing Company   KCLS Foundation Jeanne Thorsen Executive Director Lynn G. Schrader Director of Major and Planned Gifts Claire Wilkinson Development Specialist Cheryl Smith Newman Development Assistant KCLS Foundation 960 Newport Way NW Issaquah, WA 98027 425.369.3448 foundation@kcls.org

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