Your generous support of the Cedar Rapids Public Library Foundation will help the Foundation fulfill its mission of enhancing and enriching library programs, services, and facilities.

There are many ways to contribute and support, including individual, corporate, and planned giving. Scroll down to learn more about each. Thank you for all your support!

Foundation - Home

Foundation – Who We Are

Foundation – What We Do

Foundation - Planned Giving

A Wine & Beer Tasting to Benefit the Library Foundation

Friday, April 19, 2024
6 - 8:30 pm
Downtown Library
450 Fifth Ave. SE

This fundraising event features literature-inspired tasting tables, music, and entertainment. Tastings include selections of wine and beer with heavy appetizers paired accordingly. All funds raised benefit the Library Foundation and Foundation-funded programs, including Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.

Purchase your tickets now!

Register and bid on our mobile auction!

Email Foundation@CRLibrary.org for sponsorship opportunities.

Auction Sponsor

Partner Sponsor

Your generous support of the Cedar Rapids Public Library Foundation helps our library deliver innovative programs and services that meet our community’s needs. 

The Library Foundation accepts cash and appreciated stock, company matching gifts, and has a monthly giving program called Exemplary Givers outlined below. Your gift to the Foundation makes a difference in our community every single day. We sincerely appreciate your support.

If you wish to mail in your donation, please download a Gift Form and return to the Library Foundation. If you wish to make a gift online, please click the Make a One-Time Gift button below.

Make a One-Time Gift
Download Gift Form

Monthly donors to the Library Foundation are known as Literacy Leaders. By making a monthly gift to the Foundation, you are helping support the Cedar Rapids Public Library’s efforts to impact library patrons and our community.

Your recurring gift as a Literacy Leader allows you to spread your donation throughout the year while providing a steady stream of support to the Library Foundation. Your monthly donation of $10 or more is an easy way to make a big difference.

Become a Literacy Leader

Memorial and tribute gifts are a thoughtful way to honor those we love and admire. Tribute gifts may be unrestricted or designated. In some cases, a bookplate acknowledging your honoree(s) may be placed inside an item in our Library’s collection. Please contact the Library Foundation at 319.739.0411 to learn more about these options.

If you wish to mail in your tribute gift, please download this Tribute Form and return to the Library Foundation. If you wish to make a gift online, please click the Make a Tribute button below.

Make a Tribute

Download Tribute Form

With more than 9,100 children ages 0 to 5 living in Cedar Rapids, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library wouldn’t be possible without generous gifts from people like you.

Our Imagination Library Sustaining Donor program is designed to give the gift of literacy throughout the year. Sustaining Donors making a recurring monthly gift of $10 are providing books for five children every month (60 books per year).

Become a Sustaining Donor

Together, we are making a difference in our library and our community.

Library Champions

The Foundation’s Library Champion Program offers the opportunity for local organizations to support your Cedar Rapids Public Library’s innovative programs and services. Library Foundation contributions support the Library’s efforts to impact our community and transform quality of life through education, civic engagement, the arts and entertainment.

Annual gifts through the Foundation’s Library Champion Program are essential for the Foundation’s ability to support the Library’s mission and vision as a passionate advocate for literacy and lifelong learning. Please join other organizations in the Foundation’s Library Champion Program.

To enroll in the Library Champion program, please download the enrollment form and return it via mail to Cedar Rapids Public Library Foundation, 450 5th Avenue SE, Cedar Rapids, IA 52401.

Library program and event sponsorships may also be available. Please contact the Library Foundation at (319) 739-0443 or foundation@crlibrary.org for more information on sponsorship opportunities.

Download Form

ABC Disposal

Alliant Energy Foundation, Inc.

Area Ambulance

Bankers Trust

BankIowa

Benchmark

Bradley & Riley, PC

Cargil, Inc.

Cedar Rapids Bank & Trust

Giacoletto Foundation

Collins Aerospace Charitable Corporation

Collins Management Club

GreenState Credit Union

Hands Up Communication

Hawkeye Area Labor    Council AFL-CIO

Hills Bank

Holmes Murphy & Associates

Hughes Nursery & Landscaping

IBEW Local 405

Informatics

International Paper Foundation

In Tolerance Contract Manufacturing

ITC Midwest

Kingdom Filmworks, LLC

King's Materials

Knutson Construction

Linn Area Credit Union

McIntyre Foundation

Ohnward Bank

OPN Architects Incorporated

Raining Rose, Inc.

RAYGUN

Rayser Holdings

Shepard Financial Services, Inc. 

SMART Local 263

Sunrise Builders

Theisen's Home, Farm, & Auto

Tricon Construction

UFG Insurance

The Ada Van Vechten Society is named for Cedar Rapids community leader and Library founder Ada Amanda Van Vechten. In 1894, Mrs. Van Vechten was one of several women who initiated a campaign to found a public library in Cedar Rapids. After much effort, the matter was brought to voters in March 1896. The measure passed, and a free public library was created. In the Library’s book The First 100 Years, it was written that “Van Vechten, whose leadership had created the free public library, would continue to care for the new institution as a mother would nurture her child.”

The Ada Van Vechten Society honors those who are committed to caring for and nurturing the Cedar Rapids Public Library now and in the future. A person becomes eligible for membership upon receipt of written notification of the Cedar Rapids Public Library Foundation’s inclusion in his/her estate plans.

To learn more about leaving a literary legacy and how to prepare your will, please visit our planned giving website.

Letter of Intent