Friends of Washoe County Library

Founded in 1980, the Friends of Washoe County Library is a member-supported 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to advocating, fund raising, and providing support for Washoe County Library System. We offer the community a chance to invest in the success of the Library by donating funds or volunteering. We raise money for the library and our voices ensure a first-class public library for Washoe County residents. We are an all-volunteer organization with 140 volunteers and 650 members. We do not have any employees or pay any salaries. In 2013 our volunteers donated 9,954 hours of their time.

Given the dire financial problems facing Washoe County, the role of the Friends is now a vital one. We raise money through 6 book sales per year, on-line book sales, special events, membership dues, and contributions. Since 1980, we have donated more than $1,600,000 to the Washoe County Library including $100,000 that was donated to the library system in 2013 and $13,000 that was donated in 2013 to individual libraries. This money is used for library materials, programming, technology, and marketing. It is not used for employee salaries or library operations.