Eckhart Library Foundation

Eckhart Library Foundation

The Eckhart Library Foundation, Inc., is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, public benefit corporation, established March 20, 2018, that exists to support the Eckhart Public Library.


Mailing Address: Eckhart Library Foundation, Inc., P.O. Box 928, Auburn, IN 46706

Contact: eckhart.library.foundation.elf@gmail.com


The foundation’s current focus is building an endowment and providing annual financial support to the library. Since 2021, the foundation has given $175,000 to the library for the repair and maintenance of the library campus and has pledged $100,000 of gifts and grants for 2023. 

We established our foundation in response to the July 2017 arson fire that left the library with significant damage and loss. The Eckhart Library Foundation was created to help procure this funding on behalf of the library through grants and community fundraising without bonding or borrowing, while ensuring the library remained on the National Register of Historic Places. Following a successful capital campaign that benefitted the entire library campus, the historic main library reopened in March 2020. 

The foundation is governed by a volunteer board of directors.


Board positions are as follows:

Angela Mapes Turner: President

Carolyn Foley: Vice President

Sharon Smith: Treasurer

Kathie Kock: Secretary

Vicki James: Member at Large

Robert Tracey: Member at Large

W. Erik Weber: Member at Large

Katie Mullins: Library Liaison

Board members of the Eckhart Public Library Foundation. In front, from left: Kathie Kock, Janelle Graber, Sharon Smith, and Carolyn Foley. Back row, from left: Robert Tracey, Vicki James, and Angela Mapes Turner. Not photographed: W. Erik Weber. Photo from KPC News

Board members of the Eckhart Library Foundation in 2018. In front, from left: Kathie Kock, Janelle Graber, Sharon Smith, and Carolyn Foley. Back row, from left: Robert Tracey, Vicki James, and Angela Mapes Turner. Not photographed: W. Erik Weber. Photo from KPC News. Read the full article here.