Our History

Libraries, Ltd. was founded in 1965 to provide educational and recreational reading materials to children who otherwise would not have access to books and magazines. The organization began as a vision of Judy Goddard. Judy’s husband, the Honorable Samuel P. Goddard, served as Governor of Arizona in the 1960’s. In her travels around the state as first lady, Mrs. Goddard realized that many institutions serving Arizona’s children had little, if any, appropriate reading material and seldom had libraries. Judy coordinated efforts to obtain and distribute books wherever children in Arizona needed them. To continue that work, she founded Libraries, Ltd., along with a small group of dedicated women from Phoenix and Tucson.

In 1983, Judy received the Arizona State Library Association’s Rosenweig Award for outstanding service in promoting Arizona literacy. In 1993, Reading is Fundamental (RIF) recognized her as Arizona’s First Lady of Literacy. In 1996, she received the Parnassas Award from the Arizona Center for the Book.

Judy Goddard passed away in 1999, leaving a rich legacy of bringing children and books together throughout Arizona.