The purpose of the Houston Houston Public Library Foundation shall be to:
Solicit funds, gifts, and bequests for library acquisitions, additions and improvements.
Review and make advisory recommendations to the Mayor and City Council on the acceptance of gifts of real estate, art objects, and items of similar nature.
Review and make advisory recommendations to the Mayor and City Council on any proposed physical additions and improvements to be paid for with city funds.
Review and make recommendations on Library Department matters submitted to it by the Director of the Library Department, or by the Mayor and City Council.
Manage and invest and oversee the management and investment of funds, gifts, and bequests donated for library purposes and held in special trust accounts set up by the Foundation for these purposes or invested by the Foundation.
Susan Bischoff joined the Houston Public Library Foundation as president in January 2007. The media expert and Houston community leader retired from the Houston Chronicle’s senior management staff in September 2006 after a distinguished 32-year career. She spent one year as a copy editor and reporter for the Congressional Quarterly in Washington, D.C., before joining the Houston Chronicle as an education reporter in 1974. During her tenure, she rose to the rank of business reporter, assistant business editor, business editor, associate managing editor/features, deputy managing editor, and associate editor. .
The nineteen members of the Houston Public Library Foundation are appointed by the Mayor of the City of Houston and confirmed by the Houston City Council. The Mayor and Superintendent of the Houston Independent School District are ex-officio non-voting members. The Foundation meets on the fourth Tuesday of each month. Ten voting members present constitute a quorum. The current membership is as follows:
E. Fred Aguilar, III
Tina Arias Peterman
Zarine M. Boyce
Bonnie Gayle Brooks
Juanita Elizondo
Patricia J. Lasher, J.D.
Alison Leland
Lisa Mouton Wallace
Annette Mullins
Ann Short
J.S. Stone, II, M.D.
Michael J. Trevino
Robert B. Tudor, III
Cyvia Wolff
Mayor Bill White, Mayor -- Ex-Officio
Dr. Abelardo Saavedra, Superintendent, HISD -- Ex-Officio
Rhea Brown Lawson, Ph.D., Director of Libraries, Houston Public Library
Diane Durbin, President, Friends of the Houston Public Library
For more information, call (832) 393 1450 or email sbischoff@houstonlibraryfoundation.org.