St. Joseph County Public Library—2009 Winner

The Community Foundation of St. Joseph County has named the St. Joseph County Public Library the winner of its 2009 Leighton Award for Nonprofit Excellence in recognition of the organization’s enduring excellence in innovation, design, and customer service.

The St. Joseph County Library first opened its doors in 1896. Since then, it has grown to include nine locations, with a tenth branch currently under construction on the city’s northwest side. The library has distinguished itself in the technological realm: It was the first public library in the United States to establish a Web site, the first to provide public Internet access, and the first to provide a searchable database of its resources available over the Internet. For the past decade, it has consistently ranked among the top ten U.S. libraries of its size out of a field of thousands.

As this year’s Leighton Award winner, the St. Joseph County Public Library receives a $100,000 endowment challenge grant, and must raise $100,000 in matching funds. The resulting $200,000 will be used to create or add to a fund in the Community Foundation for the library’s benefit. Also, the library receives an additional $10,000 to help cover the costs of any fundraising and communications associated with the match.