Oregon · Nonprofit
THE LIBRARY FOUNDATION
THE LIBRARY FOUNDATION (Oregon) receives grants from 69 organizations whose IRS filings report $7,150,568 to it, the largest being JAMES AND SHIRLEY RIPPEY FAMILY FOUNDATION ($1,325,000). 45 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $3.5M
- Funders on record
- 69
- Grants received
- $7.2M
- Net assets
- $28M
What The Library Foundation does
Mission
The Library Foundation strengthens our community and creates a brighter future for children by supporting, expanding and advocating for multnomah county library's innovative and groundbreaking work. Gifts, large and small, make this work possible.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Early literacy programs that motivated families to read together reached more than 100,000 babies, young children and parents. Engaging books, parent education, and storytimes enabled parents to become their child's first, best, and most permanent teacher. Every child a reader reached 31,000 young children and caregivers, sending books home in 30 languages, motivating families to read together at home. Storytimes reached 52,000 children and parents at library locations, out in the community, and at home. The wic partnership reached 20,000 low-income moms and children with literacy education. Dia de los ninos engaged 5,000 children and parents with bilingual literacy programs. The new parent program sent 4,900 newborns and parents home with literacy education and an introduction to library services.
$530,868 spentof which $530,868 as grants15% of program spendingSchool-age literacy programs reached all k-12 students in 7 school districts with books and programs that cement reading skills and academic success. Summer reading engaged nearly 90,000 children and teens with a fun interactive game. Library connect connected 115,000 students to library services, including research content, homework help and tutoring support. 21,000 children's books in more than 30 languages went home with tens of thousands of children through outreach in the community, including 300 sites at parks, free lunch locations, community events, and housing developments.
$342,770 spentof which $342,770 as grants10% of program spendingBuilding projects - in 2020, multnomah county library launched a 6-year building plan to meet the 21st century needs of our community by building or expanding 8 libraries, increasing our system's space by nearly 60%. This year, holgate, midland, and north portland libraries reopened, with tens of thousands of children and teens accessing cutting-edge learning environments and interactive spaces made possible by donors to The Library Foundation. Support this year included: interactive early learning spaces ($1,055,500); flexible steam equipment for children and teens ($89,026); dedicated spaces for teens to study, gather, and connect ($39,179); a secure outdoor children's garden at east county library ($100,000).
$1,286,103 spentof which $1,286,103 as grants37% of program spendingLifelong learning programs, workshops and events reached more than 30,000 teens, adults and seniors last year, with free arts, cultural, and humanities programs, including everybody reads, a community-wide reading program transformed how students and adults experience reading, writing, and the written word. ($180,118); support for library collections and locations. ($152,524); advocacy support for future library ballot measure ($300,000); staff time and program services for library programs, communications and activities ($686,774).
$1,319,416 spentof which $632,642 as grants38% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $3,479,157.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2020 to 2021, from $20M to $25M (+24%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2017 0% · 2018 0% · 2019 0% · 2020 1% · 2021 3% · 2023 4% · 2024 1% · 2025 2%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
82% of THE LIBRARY FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (63% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Board chair
Brad Thies
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 19 funders to 33 funders, grant income rose $308k → $1.2M.
8 of 69 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 26% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of THE LIBRARY FOUNDATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 69 funders by total. Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
THE LIBRARY FOUNDATION has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 19% of grant income, and it takes 5 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 5 funders to its left
33% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund THE LIBRARY FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 26% · 2018 19% · 2019 22% · 2020 22% · 2021 26% · 2022 24% · 2023 25% — broadly stable.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
62% of THE LIBRARY FOUNDATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 65% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
62% of THE LIBRARY FOUNDATION's grant income comes from Oregon funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.9M arriving through sponsors registered in 8 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
THE LIBRARY FOUNDATION is better cushioned than half of the 3,430 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,430 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like THE LIBRARY FOUNDATION
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Oregon
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
86% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
75%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE LIBRARY FOUNDATION: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds THE LIBRARY FOUNDATION?
- THE LIBRARY FOUNDATION (Oregon) receives grants from 69 organizations whose IRS filings report $7,150,568 to it, the largest being JAMES AND SHIRLEY RIPPEY FAMILY FOUNDATION ($1,325,000). 45 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE LIBRARY FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 69 organizations giving $7,150,568 in grants to THE LIBRARY FOUNDATION, 45 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE LIBRARY FOUNDATION?
- JAMES AND SHIRLEY RIPPEY FAMILY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $1,325,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE LIBRARY FOUNDATION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Oregon. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 69 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing