Get to know the Glendale Library, Arts & Culture Trust!
2020 was a crazy year, so you may have missed that the Friends of the Glendale Public Library and the Glendale Library Foundation merged to create a new organization: the Glendale Library, Arts & Culture Trust, or GLACT for short! GLACT maintains the commitment of its two founding organizations to provide support for the Glendale Library, Arts & Culture Department of the City of Glendale. Fundraising, special events, and other volunteer efforts are designed to enhance the programs and resources offered to the public at Glendale’s eight branch libraries.
GLACT Board Members receive a City Proclamation honoring libraries during National Library Week 2023. From Left to Right; Anahid Oshagan, Becky Gimple, Jane Viar, Joan Zierhut, Jennie Quinonez-Skinner.
Some of the projects GLACT has helped to support include literacy programs like the Summer Reading Program, which ignites a passion for reading in children, teens, and adults through programs and reading challenges throughout the summer months. As well as the exhibits at the beautiful ReflectSpace gallery an exhibition space for reflection and exploration at Glendale’s Central Library, MakerSpace, a dedicated space to create, build and explore, a collection of digital resources, including the Armenian eBook collection, and a city-wide distribution of library ecards to 77,000 Glendale households during the pandemic.
The Board of Directors is comprised of volunteers from diverse professional backgrounds who share a common goal of bringing GLACT’s mission to life. These volunteers can be found at several Glendale Library, Arts & Culture events in the libraries and in the community. If you see us or spot our table, make sure you come and say hi! We would love to tell you more about what GLACT is doing and about some of the amazing library programs GLACT supports.
The Board is currently led by President Jane Viar, a retired speech-language pathologist and former Vice President of the Glendale Library Foundation. Jane is preceded by Joan Zierhut, a Visual Arts Teacher at Glendale Unified School District and Former President of the Glendale Library Foundation, who serves as GLACT’s Immediate Past President.
GLACT Board Members lead a workshop at the Be The Change Book Festival, Central Library, February 2023. From Left to Right; Jennie Quinonez-Skinner, Jane Viar, Joan Zierhut.
GLACT relies on community support to achieve its mission of strengthening the Glendale Library, Arts & Culture Department through advocacy, financial support, and volunteer services. By raising funds, GLACT can empower the library to effect meaningful change in our community. In addition, GLACT advocates for strong and permanent local funding, strengthens the public’s investment in the library by bridging the gap between the cost of superior service, resources, and programs, and what the city provides, and celebrates the inherent value and purpose of the library in the Glendale community.
If you too believe in expanding knowledge, exploring opportunities, and enriching lives through an outstanding public library, you can support the Glendale Library, Arts & Culture Trust at https://www.glact.org/donate. Your donation supports your local Glendale area public libraries and the amazing resources they provide. We hope you’ll join us in our mission!
