With so many Friends groups, including the county-wide Friends of the Library group, it’s important to understand the relationship between the organizations and how we support each other.

Individual branches might each have their own Friends group, organized by members who are interested in supporting the library branch they frequent the most often. Then there’s the Fresno County Friends of the Library group, consisting of members whose support is in the interest of libraries county-wide, and not of any particular individual branch.

The county-wide group obtained non-profit status with the State of California and federal government, a status that also covers all branch groups that allows donations to our organizations to be tax deductible. The county-wide group also works to satisfy ongoing accounting and legislative requirements to ensure that status continues to be maintained.

Additionally, the county-wide friends group cultivates interest in the Library, providing funding for needs not met by government sources through fundraising, sponsoring public awareness events and serving as a vehicle to receive contributions to the Library in the form of gifts, endowments and bequests. The county-wide group will also spearhead supporting passage in 2012 of Measure B, the 1/8 cent sales tax originally passed in the 1990s and again in 2004. Measure B funds represent a sizable portion of operational revenues for Fresno County Public Libraries.