"A door-busting bargain — the best collectibles at the price in all of American publishing." — Los Angeles Times

A total of approximately 250,000 copies of Library of America volumes are sold each year. Nevertheless, revenue from the sales of the volumes does not cover the cost to prepare, market, and manufacture them. Like other nonprofit endeavors, The Library of America does not charge its audience—that is, its readers—the full cost of the service it provides. To do so would make the volumes too costly for many people and thus severely limit the audience for the series. (The price per page of Library of America volumes remains lower than virtually any other hardcover book and many paperbacks.)

Seed money to create the series was provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Ford Foundation for the first three years. Since then The Library of America has received no regular funding from any foundation or government agency and must seek grants and contributions each year to supplement the revenue from sales.

Individual and foundation funding is increasingly necessary to maintain the series' goals: to keep the price of the books affordable, to aid small public libraries and high schools with their purchase of the volumes, to keep the growing list of titles in print, and to publish worthy yet lesser-known works. Contributions in any amount are tax-deductible and very much appreciated. Donors making an annual contribution receive announcements about forthcoming volumes and events, catalogs, as well as other communications.

The Library of America is registered as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization under its corporate name, Literary Classics of the U.S., Inc.