Mandel Foundation Awards $5 Million Grant

WEST PALM BEACH, Florida, February 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

- To Transform West Palm Beach Public Library into World-Class Institution and Encourage Support for Public Libraries

Driven by its commitment to "invest in the people with the values, ability and passion to change the world," the Mandel Foundation, has awarded a $5 million grant to the West Palm Beach Library Foundation (WPBLF).  With this significant and notable gift, the West Palm Beach Library will be renamed in perpetuity, as the "Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach."

"A public library is a vital resource for every person - students, parents, job seekers, budding authors and entrepreneurs alike. It often serves as the center point of a community," said Morton L. Mandel, chairman of the Mandel Foundation. "We believe that the West Palm Beach Public Library is a world-class institution and a model for the modern public library. We are extremely pleased to be able to support this effort.

Established by Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel of Cleveland, Ohio, the Mandel Foundation's primary mission is to provide outstanding leadership for the nonprofit world. It supports leadership education programs in its own institutions and at selected universities and organizations worldwide.  The Foundation's priority funding areas include - leadership, management of nonprofits, higher education, Jewish education and continuity, and urban neighborhood renewal.

The gift will be awarded in the form of a grant, and has three major components.  First, it will be used to fund the endowment of the WPBLF, whose mission is to help expand programs, enhance services and strengthen the collections of the West Palm Beach Public Library.   Second, the grant funds will help develop the WPBLF organization and lastly, the grant will fund innovative library programs geared toward making the library more user-friendly, and attracting a wider variety of constituents. 

"Over the past 10 months the WPBLF executive committee has worked closely with the Mandel Foundation to make this dream a reality.  The Mandel Foundation has given the WPBLF and the library an extraordinary gift, one which will greatly help the library today and for many generations to come.  This powerful collaboration will enable us to transform our library into a premier center for exchange of ideas and learning, a place in the community which all can benefit from and enjoy.  We are deeply grateful to the Mandel Foundation for this generous gift," said Jim Sugarman, WPBLF executive director.