The West Hartford Library Foundation, a tax-exempt, not-for-profit corporation organized and operated for the benefit of the West Hartford Public Library system, is governed by a board of directors made up of the five Town Council appointed members of the Library Board and four community members. All members serve in a volunteer capacity. Established in 1981, the Foundation has enabled the library to provide resources beyond the annual Town allocations for nearly 40 years. The Foundation has led successful major fundraising efforts on behalf of the Library, most recently in support of a significant expansion and renovation to the Noah Webster Library in 2006-08 and the energy efficiency focused renovations of the Bishop Corner Library in 2013-14.
About The Library Foundation
The Foundation’s mission is to support the West Hartford Public Library by offering financial support to enhance the Library’s resources and services and to facilitate access to them for the benefit of all members of the West Hartford community.
The Foundation members, with leadership from its Community Outreach committee, further support the Library by promoting Library services and programs within the community. Residents are invited to participate in this important effort.
To contact the Library Foundation, please email WHPLFoundation@westhartfordlibrary.org
Library Foundation Members
Kimberley Cohen, President
Eileen Daly, Vice President
Dr. Natalia Menjivar, Secretary
Gail Crockett
EJ Greenspan
Barbara Laurain
Okey Ndibe
Timothy Rooney
Jodie Sadowsky
About Thomas Kilfoil
In 2007, the Foundation received a generous $2 million bequest from West Hartford resident and former librarian, Thomas F. Kilfoil – a gift that continues to support program initiatives such as West Hartford Reads and the New Yorker Discussion Group. In 2018, the Friends of the West Hartford Public Library joined with the Library Foundation to consolidate and manage fundraising initiatives on behalf of the Library.
Thomas F. Kilfoil, benefactor and namesake of the Thomas F. Kilfoil Fund, was a Hartford native that sailed the North Atlantic, drank in the lights of Broadway, was a teacher, and curated a dramatic arts museum; all before joining the West Hartford Public Library in 1968. After graduating from New Britain High School in 1940, Kilfoil entered Holy Cross College where he enlisted in the Navy, performing convoy duty on a the USS Spangberger until the end of the Second World War. Following his service, Thomas Kilfoil used the GI Bill to begin a doctorate program at Columbia in English, while also pursuing his dreams of acting. A stint as a speech professor in Jersey City was brief before Kilfoil returned to Columbia to head the Brander Matthews Dramatic Museum. With student protests, the completion of his Library Science degree, and the burning of portions of the Museum, Kilfoil read the writing on the wall and made a decision to return home to Connecticut. Luckily, the Town of West Hartford was looking for a Reference Librarian and the rest, as they say, is history.
Through his years at the West Hartford Public Library he was a friend and mentor to younger librarians who went on to leadership positions in a variety of settings including public, academic, heathcare and corporate libraries. Tom was a firm believer that the most important function of a public library was connecting individuals with the information and materials necessary to educate themselves and enrich their lives. For over 30 years, Tom Kilfoil provided the West Hartford community with exceptional Reference service culminating with a bequest that since 2008 has allowed West Hartford Public Library to provide a myriad of services and programs.