Athenaeum Music & Arts Library

Mission Statement
The mission of the Athenaeum is to provide the La Jolla and San Diego communities with library resources in music and the arts, and an ongoing schedule of cultural programs, classes, concerts, and exhibitions.

Located in a historic building in La Jolla, the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library is one of San Diego's great artistic treasures, enriching the lives of many people who live and work in the San Diego area. Founded in 1894 and incorporated in 1899, the Athenaeum is one of only seventeen remaining membership libraries in the United States, and one of only two in the western United States…libraries based on the model of community-supported centers of learning and fine arts originated by Benjamin Franklin.

Over the past three decades, the Athenaeum has grown from a library into a cultural center for art and music. It has become renowned locally and nationally for its series of innovative concerts in both classical music and jazz, its many superb free exhibitions of visual art (featuring important local, national, and international artists), its varied offerings of studio art classes for both children and adults, outreach programs into area schools and its eclectic lecture series in music and art. All of this is in addition to the extensive library collections of material in music and art, including books, periodicals, CDs, DVDs, videocassettes, sheet music, and its significant collection of artists' books exploring the idea of the book as a work of art itself.

Membership libraires were created in the 18th and 19th centuries as community supported centers of learning and fine arts and originated by Benjamin Franklin. Today, the remaining seventeen libraries are housed in historic buildings, are self-supporting, and still have circulation libraries.

How you can support the Athenaeum

Several years ago, the Athenaeum established an Endowment Fund, selected a special Endowment Trust Committee and created an Endowment Trust Document. This was all done to ensure the proper handling of endowment funds, and in anticipation of possible donations especially earmarked for endowment purposes.

Over the years, various donations were received which made these funds grow slightly. However, the real growth happened in 2001, when Board member Sharon Labowitz became Chair of the Endowment Committee, pledged the first $100,000 gift, and set the tone for things to come. Executive Director Erika Torri, with help from other members of the Endowment Committee, was able to secure many other sizeable donations and pledges.

We thought this would be a good time to enumerate the various ways in which you might contribute. Besides outright gifts of cash or appreciated stock, there are many other ways to contribute: the Pooled Income Fund is a favorite vehicle, as are Charitable Remainder Trusts, Bequests by Will, or Real Estate-to name just a few. Scholarship funds could be established or designated funds created to support acquisitions, programs, or staff positions. And, don’t overlook our most recent opportunity: to name a brick in the courtyard.

We hope that, if any of these means of giving to the Athenaeum is of interest to you, you will want to pursue it further. I will be more than happy to meet with you and answer any questions.
Sincerely yours,

Erika Torri
Joan & Irwin Jacobs Executive Director

Major Gift and Naming Opportunities
Another way to support the Athenaeum is to name a program, area of the building, or staff position. The following special naming or memorial opportunities are available to donors:

$500,000 Name the Athenaeum Courtyard
$500,000 Name the Music Room (reserved)
$500,000 Name the Art Gallery Room
$500,000 Name the North Reading Room or Reference Room

$300,000 Name the East Reading Room

$ 250,000 Name the Position of the Executive Director (reserved)
$ 250,000 Name the Annual Classical Concert Series (reserved)
$ 250,000 Name the Rotunda
$ 250,000 Name the San Diego Mini-Concerts (reserved)

$ 200,000 Name one Jazz Concert Series (one series reserved)
$ 200,000 Name the Athenaeum Mini-Concert Series

$150,000 Name the Artists' Book Collection (reserved)

$ 100,000 Name the Position of the School Director
$ 100,000 Name the Position of the Program Director
$ 100,000 Endow the Art & Architecture Series (reserved)
$ 100,000 Name the Position of the Librarian
$ 100,000 Name The Children's Collection/ Space (reserved)
$ 100,000 Name the Annual Exhibition
$ 100,000 Name the Portico (reserved)
$ 100,000 Name the Entry Way (reserved)
$ 100,000 Name the Artists' Books Vault (reserved)

$ 75,000 Name the Upstairs Stairwell
$ 75,000 Name an Annual Chamber Concert
$ 75,000 Name an Annual Jazz Concert

$ 50,000 Name an Annual Lecture
$ 50,000 Name the Downstairs Stairwell
$ 50,000 Name the Ramp (taken)

$ 25,000 Name the Video Collection (reserved)
$ 25,000 Name the CD Collection Space(reserved)
$ 25,000 Name the Current Periodicals Space (reserved)
$ 25,000 Name the DVD Collection Space

$ 10,000 Endow an Art Appreciation Lecture Series
$ 10,000 Endow a Music Appreciation Lecture Series
$ 10,000 Name a Bookstack
$ 10,000 Endow a Scholarship Fund in Music or Art (three reserved)
$ 10,000 Endow an Artists' Book Fund

$ 5,000 Endow a Library Acquisition Funds

Art Books
Music Books
Children's Books
Video Collection
Audio Collection
New Media

$ 1,500 Name a brick in the courtyard (144 reserved)

$ 1,000 Name a new stacking chair for the Music Room (28 reserved)

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Athenaeum Music & Arts Library

Board of Trustees 2009-2010:
Garna Muller, President
Sharon Labovitz, Vice President
Nora Sargent, Vice President
Suzanne Applebaum, Treasurer
Catherine Palmer, Secretary

Ann Craig
Carmen Cuenca
Carol Fink
Eloisa Haudenschild
Angel Kleinbub
Lou Knierim
James E. Lasry, M.D.
John Messner
Betty Jo Petersen
Lea Rudee, Ph.D.
Carolyn Yorston-Wellcome

Barbara Walbridge, Board Member Emeritus

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