Barbara Mandel, center, looks to West Palm Beach Mayor Jeri Muoio as her husband, Mandel Foundation co-founder Morton Mandel, left, listens to the public announcement that the Mandel Foundation has awarded a $5 million grant to the West Palm Beach Library Foundation. The grant will support the library foundation endowment and organization as well as its mission to expand programs, enhance services and strengthen collections. The library will be renamed “Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach.” Photo by Elizabeth Burks/Palms West Monthly

Mandel Foundation awards $5 million grant to WPB Library

Palms West Monthly
Posted March 5, 2012

The Mandel Foundation has awarded a $5 million grant to the West Palm Beach Library Foundation that will – among other things – fund programs that will make the library more user-friendly and attract a wider variety of constituents. 

“A public library is a vital resource for every person – students, parents, job seekers, budding authors and entrepreneurs alike. It often serves as the center point of a community,” said Morton L. Mandel, chairman of the Mandel Foundation.

“We believe that the West Palm Beach Public Library is a world-class institution and a model for the modern public library. We are extremely pleased to be able to support this effort,” he added.

Established by Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel of Cleveland, Ohio, the Mandel Foundation’s priority funding areas include leadership, management of non-profits, higher education, Jewish education and continuity, and urban neighborhood renewal.

The library will be renamed the Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach. In addition, representatives of the Mandel Foundation will serve on several committees of the West Palm Beach Library Foundation.

The Foundation Founders – Joseph Mandel and Morton Mandel and his wife Barbara are full-time residents of Palm Beach.