Foundation, Gifts, & Donations

A strong public library is the foundation upon which a community can build its future. The Downers Grove Public Library supports all forms of community life from the arts and sciences to education and public affairs, as well as business and entertainment. While tax dollars can create a good library, community partnerships can create a great library.

More than 110 years ago, the Downers Grove Public Library started with a community partnership. A group of ladies started the Ladies Library Association and founded a small reading room above the Farmers and Merchants Bank on the corner of Main and Curtiss. They spent the next 20 years volunteering their time and working to establish a tax-supported library. In 1911, a referendum passed supporting a public library, and the efforts of the Ladies Library Association brought financial help from the Carnegie Foundation to construct a library building, which opened in 1915.

The Downers Grove Public Library is a place that opens minds, enriches lives, and brings us together. Giving to the Downers Grove Public Library can create a community partnership, which results in an expanded collection of books and materials, better technology to access a world of information, diverse programs for children, teens, and adults, and a permanent art collection to stimulate, interest, and inspire library visitors.

There are many ways you can give to the Downers Grove Public Library. Click on the links to the left for more information.