The Library Foundation for Sarasota County raised more than $350,000 and hosted 430 in-person guests and 100  livestreaming guests for its annual “Love Our Libraries” author luncheon at the Sarasota Municipal Auditorium on Feb. 3. The guest speaker was Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr., the Emmy Award-winning filmmaker, author, literary scholar, and creator and host of the groundbreaking PBS genealogy series "Finding Your Roots.” His talk was followed by a question-and-answer session led by Charlayne Hunter-Gault, a Sarasota resident and former foreign correspondent for CNN, NPR and PBS. 

The funds raised at the luncheon will go toward the purchase of books and digital resources to be used throughout the Sarasota County library system; free books mailed monthly to hundreds of Sarasota’s kids through the Library Foundation’s partnership with the Dolly Parton Imagination Library; and programs like the Creation Stations that are now in nine of Sarasota County’s 10 library branches. Since its inception in 2011, the foundation has raised more than $8 million in private funds for Sarasota County public libraries.