West Hollywood Library Fund Has A New Executive Director
May 3, 2012
News Release
For Immediate Release
Information:
Christopher Bonbright (323-851-6666)
Marc Haupert (323-376-0815)
May 3, 2012, West Hollywood, CA - The Board of Directors of the West Library Library Fund today announced that it has retained the services of Marc W. Haupert as its new Executive Director. He starts immediately.
The Fund was founded in 2007 with a mission to raise over $10 million to create the new West Hollywood Library-a cultural and community center for West Hollywood and beyond, and the keystone to the Library Park project.
The new West Hollywood Library, which opened in October 2011on San Vicente near Melrose, is a tremendous gift to the people of West Hollywood and beyond. This state-of the-art library offers free access to much-needed educational resources; what's more, it's also a civic centerpiece designed to showcase the City's rich intellectual, literary and cultural diversity and to provide a landmark facility for the community's passionate commitment to lifelong learning.
Board Chairman Christopher Bonbright said, “we are extremely pleased to have found in Marc a nonprofit professional with the lifelong dedication to excellence in nonprofit management. As we transition from a capital fundraising organization to a vital programming entity for the community, we have found the leader who can facilitate that transition.” He continued, “libraries are not just bricks and mortar, but are given life through the people
in them and what they do with the space. Our hope is that everyone living in or visiting West Hollywood and our neighboring communities can find something at the West Hollywood Library that speaks to them, something that will feel specifically designed with them in mind. We know that Marc will help us achieve that dream.”
Haupert comes to the Library Fund from a long career of managing and directing nonprofit organizations in the Midwest and California. From his earliest days creating the first nonprofit bookstore in his small Wisconsin town (before turning 20), to his performing arts management career, to his civil rights and LGBT rights activities in the '70's and 80's, to his nationally recognized management leading to remarkable growth of some of the most significant AIDS service organizations in America, Haupert has devoted his life to superior nonprofit performance in service to community missions. His attention to principles of transparency, accountability and participation in all of the positions he has held has ensured focus on mission while increasing scale to serve community needs.
Haupert starts his duties immediately. He can be reached at MHaupert@Weholibraryfund.org.
About Marc Haupert
Haupert's most recent Executive Director position was as Executive Director of the Los Angeles Shanti Foundation from 1998 through 2003. In 2004 he created his firm Marc Haupert and Associates, which has served dozens of California and national organizations in the areas of management assessment and improvement, interim executive transition, fund development, and technology consulting for nonprofits. From 2004 to the present, he was also a senior consultant with the Third Sector Company, which is the leading executive transition support organization on the west coast and western Canada. He is a member of the Grant Professionals Association, the Nonprofit Technology Network and has served on the executive boards of county-wide, statewide and national AIDS advocacy and planning organizations. Among numerous achievements, he served for five years as a District III appointee to the County HIV Commission, and was selected as Christopher Street West's “Man of the Year” in 2003.
About the West Hollywood Library:
- Each day the library is open, nearly 1,000 visitors enjoy features like:
- Unique children's storytelling theatre where learning comes alive for families;
- Teen library and study center enabling youth to get assistance from library professionals on research projects and daily homework;
- Wells Fargo Career Development Center offering job search coaching and assistance;
- Stuart Feigin Technology Area featuring Internet enabled computers, and laptops for a portable learning lab;
- West Hollywood room and archive which houses historical reference materials and highlights West Hollywood's activist history;
- Specialty collections of HIV related works, LGBT history and literature, and other special focus areas;
- Dedicated space for events, lectures, readings, exhibits, film screenings, and public meetings; and,
- A street-side coffee bar with café tables for socializing or quiet reading.
Outside the walls of the “silver LEED-certified” building, the City added two-and-a-half acres to adjacent West Hollywood Park, and increased parking for the library, park and surrounding amenities. These benefits fill a gap for a population whose majority lives in duplexes and apartments. Today, families with no backyards or gardens have acres of green space on which to gather and play.
In keeping with the City's ethos, the West Hollywood Library Fund aims to ensure the West Hollywood Library and surrounding park area are programmed in a wide spectrum of innovative and creative ways. Through free access to a range of activities like performances, workshops, lectures and discussions, we can promote participatory learning and education through experience. The library facilities and special collections offer a range of opportunities to engage people more deeply in topics of interest.