Photo: Long Beach Public Library
The Long Beach Public Library Foundation today announced that tennis legend and activist Billie Jean King has joined Mayor Robert Garcia as honorary co-chair of the Library Foundation’s New Main Campaign. The New Main Campaign has raised $2.1 million so far for technology, programs, and enhancements at the new Billie Jean King Main Library, which held its grand opening celebration on September 21, 2019.
Photo: Long Beach Public Library
The Library Foundation is proud to count Billie Jean King and her longtime partner, tennis champion Ilana Kloss, among the hundreds of donors who have given in support of the Foundation’s fundraising campaign for the new Billie Jean King Main Library. “Ilana and I are proud to join the hundreds of Founding Donors who have given to the Long Beach Public Library Foundation’s New Main Campaign,” said Billie Jean King. “These champions of literacy and education are helping Long Beach residents transform their lives through equal access to educational programs and services offered for free though the Long Beach Public Library.”
Patrons will have access to many enhancements to the new 92,500 square foot library made possible by donations to the Library Foundation including:
- a Laptops Anytime automated checkout kiosk with 12 laptops available to library card holders;
- a Chromebook charging cart with 35 Dell Latitude chromebooks;
- educational oceanic décor throughout the KidSpace and Story Theater;
- selfCheck kiosks and Tech Logic automated materials handling system for efficient check out and drop off of library materials;
- tools for those with disabilities in the Center for Adaptive Technology;
- Epson LightScene accent lighting laser projectors, a laser cutter, 3D printers, and more innovative technology in the makerspace Studio;
- the restored murals entitled, “Scenes from English Literature,” painted for the Library in 1937 by Suzanne Miller as part of the Work Project Administration Federal Art Project;
- and more resources for families, students, job-seekers, older individuals, veterans, and those with disabilities.
“We are grateful to the hundreds of Founding Donors from across the city who have made donations of all sizes, from $25 to $575,000, to support technology, programs, and enhancements in the new Billie Jean King Main Library,” said Barbara Schwerin, president of the Long Beach Public Library Foundation Board of Directors.
The Long Beach Public Library Foundation’s New Main Campaign will continue through the end of the new Library’s first full year of service giving more people a chance to become Founding Donors and support programs and resources that will benefit those who depend on the Library for many years to come. Those who give $25 or more will be recognized as Founding Donors.
