Message from the Chair

Greetings, and welcome to the website for the Alachua County Library District Foundation.

I am William (Bill) Zegel, your new Chair of the Board, beginning a two-year term on October 5, 2025. For more than 50 years, I have volunteered with many nonprofit organizations across Alachua County while serving as CEO of a local, for-profit environmental engineering company. That experience has strengthened my belief that strong libraries build strong communities.

Our Mission

Our Foundation’s Mission is clear: to provide supplemental funding to the Alachua County Library District, enhance library services for the community, and create reliable pathways for long term support and planned giving. We work to grow the Foundation and to meet evolving community needs, knowing that our libraries promote a lifetime of literacy, learning, and connection.

Recent Impact

With your support, we have helped bring meaningful improvements to library spaces and access, including:

• Supporting the creation of Snuggle Up Centers, Maker Spaces, and Teen Spaces across branches.

• Funding the purchase of hundreds of WiFi2Go units for District wide use, offering essential internet access to neighbors whose home service may be limited.

Partnerships and Stewardship

Our partnerships with the Library District and the Friends of the Library (FOL) are essential to our Mission. We collaborate with the District to accept and steward private contributions with transparency, accountability, and compliance. The FOL provides supplementary support through the Foundation and literacy programs that enhance the Library’s services and programming.

Access and Giving

We’ve worked to make this website truly accessible. Visitors can explore resources, view digital archives, and find simple, secure portals for making donations that advance our Mission.

An Invitation to Engage

We welcome engagement from the entire community—whether by donating, volunteering, or taking part in library events. Your support has enabled our annual donations and our longstanding commitment to the libraries.

Thank you to all donors, volunteers, and community partners for your steadfast support. We simply could not do this work without you.

Please explore this website. We’re confident you’ll find much to engage you—and many opportunities to make a difference through the Foundation and through our libraries. Stay connected with us here, on social media such as our Facebook page, and through newsletters, including the FOL newsletter.

With appreciation,

William (Bill) Zegel, Chair of the Board

Alachua County Library District Foundation (ACLDFOUND.com)