By Cindi Andrews
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Friends are good to have, but now leaders of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County are thinking they'd like a foundation, too.The library, building on fund-raising efforts it began last year, has hired a lawyer to help create a library foundation.

The foundation would be independent of the library, have its own board of trustees and be classified as a 501(c)3 by the Internal Revenue Service, library Director Kimber Fender said.

The library hired its first development director last May and held its first fund drive last fall, raising $68,000, Fender said. Many groups declined to give, however, because the library is not a 501(c)3 organization, an IRS designation for organizations that can receive tax-free gifts.

Friends of the Library, a nonprofit that supports the library, is a 501(c)3. But it mainly raises money by holding used-book sales and running the library gift shop. It also acts as an advocacy group for the library.

"A foundation's only purpose is to raise funds," Fender said.

The foundation would supplement - but not replace - the state money that comprises 95 percent of the library's $50 million annual budget, she said.

Often, the money raised by a foundation is invested, with only the interest spent - thus creating a permanent source of income.

Many libraries across the United States have created foundations in recent years.

The Multnomah County Library in Portland, Ore., the country's second-highest-circulation library in 2002, received $1.3 million from its foundation during the 2001-2002 fiscal year. The money went toward the main and branch libraries, children and youth services, and library materials.

Created in 1995, the Multnomah foundation has grown to a staff of nine and raised almost $17 million, according to CEO Merris Sumrall.

That has translated into higher visibility throughout the community, Sumrall said.

The library's summer reading program, a recipient of foundation money, had almost 40,000 participants last year - eight times more than the pre-foundation participation.

E-mail candrews@enquirer.com