Library Return to Giving a Gift Endowments Endowed funds at the Library provide a unique way to create a legacy, by virtue of what they represent and accomplish. A library endowment expresses clearly one's regard for education, culture, and the life of the mind, as well as belief in the power of ideas and the importance of shared human discourse.
Endowments also reflect their donors.
By designating their fund's use for specific subject areas, donors stimulate further investigation into those fields. Alternatively, funds may be personalized by stipulating that they support specific departments, such as Preservation, or formats, such as electronic media. Whatever their purpose, endowed funds create wonderful and tangible legacies that will communicate across centuries to readers and researchers. These legacies are renewed continually through the acquisition of new materials and the use of old. In a community of inquiry such as the University, the Library's endowed funds ultimately feed many minds and afford donors a vital and never-ending role in the dynamic exchange of ideas that shape our world.