Mission & History


Mission Statement
The Focus of the FCML is to raise the visibility of the City of Mesa Library and its programs and to develop fund-raising activities to promote the viability of the library in the community.



Book stcak

History
The initial years of the new millennium saw a major transition for the City of Mesa Library. In the year 2000 longtime Library Director Vince Anderson retired and a new Director, Patsy Hansel, was hired. Ms. Hansel came from a public library in Williamsburg, Maryland that benefited greatly from a local group of business leaders and concerned citizens called “The Friends of the Williamsburg Library.” This local group was part of a grass-roots movement that began organizing during the economic problems in the mid-1970’s to form a national organization called “The Friends of Libraries USA.” The main goals of the “Friends” organizations were to convey to the public just how valuable local libraries are to their communities and to help compensate for a loss of available public funding.  The strategy of Friends organization consists of 3 major components:

  • Fundraising
  • Advocacy
  • Publicity (raising public awareness of the library’s value to the community and it’s loss of public revenue)

In early 2001 Ms. Hansel created an exploratory committee to search out area leaders and concerned citizens already serving the library to form The Friends of the City of Mesa Library (FCML). Soon nine original Board Members were identified and began the process of incorporation, and on December 20, 2001, FCML was recognized by the State of Arizona as an incorporated charitable institution with a 501(c)(3) rating.

Since its founding in 2001 FCML has been hard at work attending city council meetings to advocate for library issues, gaining public support against budget cuts resulting in library staff cuts and a reduction in library hours, and seeking ballot measures to help increase funding for the library system.  FCML has also partnered with major corporations including Target, Walmart, the Chicago Cubs, Macy’s, The United Way, Exxon-Mobil and local businesses such as The Arizona Humanities Council, Bookman’s and Mervyns and private donors to sponsor fundraising events or to directly purchase items on the Library’s “Wish List.”
The Friends of the City of Mesa Library continues working to ensure the community continues to have access to books, movies, music, cultural programming, information, databases, and the world wide Web through our public libraries.