The Friends of the Princeton University Library play a vital role in supporting the acquisitions and operations of the Library, while enjoying regular programs and unique opportunities to participate in special events. The Friends welcome all members of the community who have an interest in books, libraries, manuscripts, and the graphic arts.
Friends can support the Library by helping with new acquisitions or by donating to the Anniversary Fund, which will increase the Library's resources for additions to the Special Collections. New items will periodically be listed under "Acquisitions Program" (see menu to right), and all are invited to help with their purchase. For donations to the Anniversary Fund please contact Linda Oliveira.
About the Friends of the Princeton University Library
On the evening of March 28, 1930, at a small dinner party at the Union Club in New York City a group of Princetonians formed the Friends of the Princeton University Library (FPUL). These founders knew quite well the significance and the challenge of their undertaking—to help create and maintain a world class scholarly university library which would require substantial resources, in-kind donations of collections, and the wherewithal to acquire those items deemed necessary by the University. That they did so in the midst of the Great Depression seems all the more remarkable.
The FPUL has evolved from this small group of wealthy, dedicated donors to a large heterogeneous organization of benefactors, alumni, faculty, and others associated with Princeton—all students in the broadest sense of the word. The activities of the FPUL now encompass the publication of the Princeton University Library Chronicle, special lectures, sponsorship of fellowships, annual dinners with distinguished speakers, a book collectors group, an undergraduate book collecting contest, special publications, and the capacity to add to the Library’s resources through the purchase of needed items for the special collections.
Over the past few years, the activities of the FPUL have grown primarily in terms of services to the members and the Princeton community. During this same period, the ability of the Library to add needed items to the special collection have been curtailed through fiscal constraints: the Library has not been able to compete with other institutions for many significant items. The Executive Committee of the Council of the FPUL has therefore voted to establish The Friends Anniversary Fund to enable the library to become competitive with other institutions, so that resources can be acquired essential for the full intellectual and creative activities and development of our students and faculty, now and in the future. This will be a major effort.