first recipient of the WPBLF Benjamin Franklin Award for Excellence; Dean Dimke, WPBLF CEO
WEST PALM BEACH, FLA. (November 14, 2024) – The Library Foundation’s inaugural Benjamin
Franklin Award for Excellence was presented to Dianne Bernstein at the annual Food for
Thought Dinner. The Foundation’s premier fundraising event was held Saturday, November 2,
2024, at The Beach Club, Palm Beach.
The Chair of the Board of Directors, Steven Mayans, shared that “usually, a grateful
organization bestows upon a singular person its most prestigious award. Because we did not
yet have such an award, the Board of Directors created the Benjamin Franklin Award of
Excellence, allowing us to publicly recognize an exceptional individual who makes a significant
contribution towards advancing the mission of the WPB Library Foundation. That person is
Dianne Bernstein.”
“Dianne Bernstein was selected as the first recipient of this esteemed award because of her
long-time service as a career educator, library enthusiast, and nonprofit leader,” CEO Dean
Dimke explained.
In her remarks in accepting the award, Bernstein said, “My life’s focus has been a shared love of
education and literacy, and dedication to the programs the West Palm Beach Library
Foundation offers to the community through the Mandel Public Library.”
Dianne taught high school English for 28 years to disadvantaged students. She served as a
board member of the Library of Philadelphia and a Trustee of its Foundation; while in
Manalapan, she founded a monthly lecture series; and in West Palm Beach, she was a library
volunteer, board member and is the immediate-past Board chair. She established the
foundation’s Giving Society and Food for Thought, the premier fundraising event, as well as the
concept for the Yacht Cruise and Dream Auction, our second largest fundraiser.
Why the Benjamin Franklin namesake? He is the father of the modern public library. He was
also one of the Founding Fathers of the United States and among the most prominent
intellectuals of his time. It is a telling historical fact – that Benjamin Franklin was the only
person to have signed all three of the most important documents of our country’s founding –
the Declaration of Independence in 1776; the Treaty of Paris in 1783; and the United States
Constitution in 1787. “The custom-designed Benjamin Franklin Award for Excellence is
engraved with Franklin’s quote of “Well done is better than well said,” stated Dimke. Those
words aptly fit Dianne Bernstein.
About the West Palm Beach Library Foundation
The West Palm Beach Library Foundation raises funds for the Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach to provide
free quality programs, services, and resources that enrich and strengthen its diverse community. The Foundation
hopes to create an inspired community where children excel, and adults thrive. Gifts to the Foundation support
popular library programs including afterschool homework centers, summer learning programs, reading programs,
teen college prep, job readiness, and adult programs in art, technology, education, culture, and entertainment.