After about a year of discussion and a few months of planning and preparation, the Leander Library Foundation has officially come to an end following a unanimous City Council vote at the July 6 meeting.

In a nutshell

The Leander Library Foundation is dissolving its organization, and its team is focusing on more fundraising efforts in support of the library.

How we got here

• Council initially discussed the dissolution of the Leander Library Foundation at the April 6 meeting.
• The foundation needed an “alternative way to accomplish the mission of raising funds for the library and have the ability to be inclusive of more people to help raise that additional funding,” Parks and Recreation Director Mark Tummons said at the meeting.

The specifics

• While the foundation was supportive of the library, it struggled to get board seats filled, Library Director Peggy Parrish said. As a result, the foundation dissolved and looked to be revived as a nonprofit called “Friends of the Library,” which has the opportunity to have more members and not be limited to just council appointments.
• However, the foundation voted to not move forward with the formation of a Friends of the Library group, according to meeting documents. Nonetheless, fundraising efforts on behalf of the library will still take place.
• The used bookstore that was previously under the foundation will go back to the Leander Public Library, who will now maintain it.
• Now that the dissolution of the Leander Library Foundation was approved, all of the organization’s funding will go to the Leander Public Library.

“[I] just want to say thank you to all of the members of the library foundation for their service through the years,” Mayor DeLisLe said at the July 6 meeting. “We appreciated y’all.”