Annual giving to the Graves Library provides critical support to our programs and allows us to maintain our building, grounds, and facilities as well as expand programming opportunities, enhance literacy and education, and encourage the developing minds of our patrons. Our staff, volunteers, trustees, and friends know that they can help meet patrons’ needs while enjoying tax benefits for their generosity. Memorial or In Honor Of gifts to the Library are also a special way to cherish and remember loved ones.

If you would like to donate to our Annual Fund Drive, please send your contribution to the Annual Fund Drive, Louis T. Graves Memorial Public Library, P.O. Box 391, Kennebunkport, ME 04046. Donating online is easy too–click on the “Donate” button on this page or the Home page and submit your contribution via our secure PayPal account. You will receive a handwritten receipt of your donation.

Would you like to make a gift of appreciated stock or a required distribution? Does your company match gifts to non-profits? This can double or triple your gift to Graves Library. Please email Mary-Lou Boucouvalas at mlbgraves@gmail.com for stock delivery instructions or call the Library at (207) 967-2778.

Currently, the Louis T. Graves Memorial Public Library, a 501(c)(3) organization, has over 6,100 cardholders and a collection of more than 37,000 pieces. The Library is open 41.5 hours per week and provides over 400 quality programs to individuals of all ages.

Approximately 40 percent of the Library’s annual budget is requested from the Town of Kennebunkport on an annual basis. The remaining 60 percent is predicated on the success of volunteer fundraising efforts.  While the Library has been fortunate to receive memorial gifts over the years to help build an endowment, only four percent of the balance is withdrawn for operations each year to ensure that the future of the Library’s holdings will exist to support the life-long mission to all cardholders.

The fundraising initiatives include a continuous sale of used and rare books, an annual campaign, and a variety of special events. For instance, in 2012, the Library began an annual author event featuring Pulitzer Prize winner and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient David McCullough. Following that inaugural event, Graves Library has hosted Kennebunkport author and historian Joyce Butler, David Oshinsky in 2014, Douglas Brinkley in 2015, Mark Updegrove in 2016, William Martin in 2017, Nathaniel Philbrick in 2018, Mark Wortman in 2019, Lisa Wingate in 2020, John Grisham in 2021, David Maraniss in 2022, David Baldacci in 2023, and Paul Hendrickson in 2024.