Denver, CO

DENVER PUBLIC LIBRARY FRIENDS FOUNDATION

EIN 84-6036979

Education & Youth Development Literacy & Reading Children & youth Low-income Immigrants & refugees

Mission

The Denver Public Library Friends Foundation enriches the community by building support and raising money to enhance the Denver Public Library’s programs and services through fundraising, volunteerism, and advocacy.

IRS-recognized 501(c)(3) public charity Contributions are tax-deductible

Claim this page Visit www.dplfriends.org

About DENVER PUBLIC LIBRARY FRIENDS FOUNDATION

The Denver Public Library Friends Foundation is the philanthropic and volunteer arm that raises private support to expand and sustain programs, collections, facilities, and outreach across the Denver Public Library system. The Foundation runs used-book operations, special events, and donor programs to generate unrestricted and targeted funds that enable library services citywide. In recent years the Foundation has supported early-literacy initiatives, branch renovations and the Central Library renovation, Special Collections digitization, and large-scale advocacy and ballot work to secure public funding for library services. Its funding and volunteer efforts directly support programs serving children, low-income families, immigrants and refugees, and the broader Denver community.

Notable achievements

Support for Strong Library, Strong Denver

The Foundation’s fundraising and advocacy contributed to the Strong Library, Strong Denver initiative, which delivered $34 million in support for the library system in 2023 to fund improvements and ongoing services.

Read Aloud program scale

The Foundation-backed Read Aloud early literacy program reached approximately 5,600 preschoolers in 280 classrooms during the 2024–2025 school year and distributed about 9,600 bilingual gift books to help children access books at home.

Collections & facilities support

The Foundation funded Special Collections and Archives digitization bringing thousands of historical documents online, and provided capital support for branch renovations and the Central Library renovation and reopening projects.

At a glance

Total assets: $11.3M
Annual revenue: $2.8M
Tax status: 501(c)(3)Public charity
EIN: 84-6036979
Location: Denver, CO
Website: www.dplfriends.org
On Mahalo since: September 2026

Financial figures from the IRS Business Master File, the IRS’s registry of tax-exempt organizations.

Recognition

Maintains public audited financial statements and posts Form 990s for public inspection, demonstrating financial transparency and oversight.

Listed and evaluated by major charity information services as a long-standing 501(c)(3) nonprofit and the primary fundraising partner of Denver Public Library.

Earned a high external charity evaluation score and top-tier rating from a national charity evaluator for accountability and financial transparency.

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