International Youth Library Foundation

The International Youth Library Foundation is a public trust organization founded under civil law. It was registered in 1995 by publisher Christa Spangenberg (1928-2003).

The Foundation’s aim is to promote education and scholarship. Thus it supports individuals and institutions involved in circulating and working with children’s and youth literature, and helps to inspire parents and teachers and strengthen their appreciation for the value of children’s and young adult books. Within the purview of scholarship, it funds/facilitates research in the area of international youth literature.


The Foundation primarily puts its goals into practice through running the International Youth Library in Munich, whose operation it took over in 1996.

The International Youth Library fulfils its statutory tasks through the collection, cataloguing, and dissemination of children’s and youth literature from Germany and abroad as well as its commitment to the cultural education of young people and promotion of cross-cultural understanding.

An international board of trustees ensures that all operations are in line with the founder’s intentions. The foundation’s executive committee manages Foundation business and carries out the decisions of the board of trustees.

Contact

Committees of the International Youth Library Foundation

Board of Trustees


Deputy Chairperson


Dr. Sabine Solf

German Commission for UNESCO



Chairman


Dr. Rolf Griebel

Former Director of Bavarian State Library



Uta-Christina Biskup

Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth



Christopher Franceschelli

Handprint Books, Brooklyn, NY, USA



Dr. Elisabeth Donoughue

Bavarian State Ministry for Science and Art



Bärbel Dorweiler

Thienemann-Esslinger Publishing House



Henning Schroedter-Albers

Association Friends and Sponsors of the International Youth Library



Anton Biebl

Cultural Advisor of the City of Munich © Photo: Tobias Hase



Johannes Ebert

Secretary General of the Goethe Institute



Eberhard Spangenberg



Foundation Board

Stiftungsvorstand


Clara Fernández López

Chairwoman



Dr. Max Medrisch




Dr. Christiane Raabe

Executive Board Member