Dear Junior League Members:

It was wonderful to have the Junior League at the Main Library for your General Membership Meeting. Thank you for your interest in NPL and choosing to spend your evening with us to learn more about what makes us the best library in the country!

In case you couldn’t tell, we love sharing the extensive scope of the Library’s work and could talk for hours about the impact of NPL’s programs inside and outside of the walls of our 21 branches. This impact would not be as significant without the long-time partnership NPL has with the Junior League.

As part of the tour, many of you saw the plaque commemorating the significant investment of the Junior League.  As part of the League’s millennial celebration in 2000, JLN members voted to invade the corpus of one of its endowed funds to provide a transformational gift to support and name the Downtown Main Library Children’s Floor. The Junior League knew it was important to provide a millennial gift that would impact every child in Nashville and establish the League as a partner with the city in elevating the growth and vitality of downtown Nashville. Nashville needed a library that would serve as a beacon for children’s literacy and they turned to The Junior League and its 2000 actives and sustainers to be a partner. We hope this legacy is a vital part of all forward thinking for the League.

NPL will be launching a campaign this fall to expand and deepen our early-literacy programs over the next 2-3 years and we are excited to be a Strategic Partner of the Junior League as we plan for this growth. We have the opportunity to do great things together to ensure all Nashville children are ready to learn to read in Kindergarten and know that our two organizations will be instrumental in this goal.

We certainly hope you came away with plans to return for programs and events, as well as knowledge you can spread to others about the free services, resources and FUN available through NPL. We’ve provided general links to information and resources below.

Again, thank you so much for your time! Please feel free to reach out with questions or comments.

Warmest regards,

Shawn Bakker, President
Nashville Public Library Foundation