Philanthropy in Public Libraries: Its Impact on Community Well-Being Missions

Abstract

Public libraries support community well-being missions related to access to information, knowledge creation, public service programming and social cohesion. Interviews in this study were designed to discover whether philanthropy in the form of giving positively impact their ability to deliver these missions. Four public library directors in Mississippi were selected for this study because the state reports low community well-being measures and high charitable giving. Findings suggest that philanthropy is a fundamental partner in community well-being missions for these libraries even though, as a sector, public libraries measure low in philanthropic support.