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March 7, 2010

Princeton Library $1.5M closer to endowment campaign goal

Tuesday, March 02, 2010
Krystal knapp
SPECIAL TO THE TIMES
PRINCETON BOROUGH -- Thanks to gifts from two major donors, the Princeton Public Library is $1.5 million closer to reaching its fund-raising goal for its centennial endowment campaign.

The Scheide Fund has donated $500,000 to the Centennial Campaign for Endowment, and the Robert Wood Johnson 1962 Charitable Trust has awarded the library a $1 million challenge grant, to be matched on a one-to-one basis.

Philanthropists William and Judy Scheide, longtime supporters of arts and culture in the community, have been generous contributors to the library in the past. Previous gifts to the library from the couple include $500,000 for the construction of the library's current building, which opened in 2004.

The Scheide Library, privately owned and deposited in Princeton University's Firestone Library, is one of the world's premier collections of earliest European printing. The Scheides also own an important collection of rare books.

Regarding their recent contribution, the Scheides stressed the important role public libraries play, saying they "turn the entire community into book collectors. Anyone with a library card has access to wonderful collections, stories and information."

The Robert Wood Johnson 1962 Charitable Trust and other philanthropic organizations under the direction of Betty Wold Johnson have made gifts totaling $3 million to the library.

"We are proud to have received this second challenge grant from the Robert Wood Johnson 1962 Charitable Trust," said Leslie Burger, executive director of the library.

"Having a dollar-for-dollar challenge encourages others in the community to donate and is an endorsement of the significant role the library plays in this community," Burger said. "We are grateful for this generous gift and hope to be able to complete the challenge quickly."

The library will celebrate its 100th anniversary in October. Several centennial events have been planned throughout the year, including a gala fund raiser Oct. 9 and a birthday party Oct. 10.

The goal of the centennial campaign is to build a $10 million endowment for the library by the end of the year. The endowment will provide a sustainable source of income to supplement municipal support, library officials said, allowing the library to continue to offer innovative services to the community.

Lindsey Forden, the library's development director, said with the two major gifts given by the Scheides and the Robert Wood Johnson 1962 Charitable Trust, the library has raised roughly $8 million so far and is within about $2 million of reaching its goal.

"We're in the last leg of the campaign," Forden said. "We fully anticipate we will meet the goal through the generosity of donors ... It's a great thing for the community."

For more information about the campaign or centennial events, visit www.princetonlibrary.org.

Posted by tumulty at March 7, 2010 1:45 PM

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