Library benefits from anonymous largesse
The Free Library yesterday announced it had received an anonymous $15 million challenge grant toward refurbishment and expansion of the Central Library on Logan Circle, a multipart project with a cost now estimated at about $175 million.
The Free Library yesterday announced it had received an anonymous $15 million challenge grant toward refurbishment and expansion of the Central Library on Logan Circle, a multipart project with a cost now estimated at about $175 million.
The gift, which library officials said came from a private individual, requires the library to match each dollar with one dollar raised from other sources.
Excluding the matching grant, officials said the library has already raised $70.3 million for the project, including $30 million from the city and $9.5 million from the state.
Private-sector donors include the Annenberg Foundation ($5 million) and the William Penn Foundation ($4 million), among others.
Linda Johnson, chief executive of the Free Library Foundation, the library's fund-raising arm, said the grant was "by far" the largest private gift the library has received during its campaign. She said it marks a new phase in the fund-raising effort.
"We are here to take the campaign to the community," Johnson said at a press event held at the library.
Library officials steadfastly declined to identify the source of the gift, but William R. Sasso, chairman of the foundation board of directors, read a statement from the donor, who said: "Our desire is to help expand the Central Library and revitalize the heart of the library system."
The donor added that when construction is completed, "The renewed Central Library will be a center where all segments of the community come together to access information and exchange ideas in a dynamic environment."
The major portion of the project involves a 160,000-square-foot expansion of the main building. Designed by Moshe Safdie, the library will balloon out to the north, between 19th and 20th streets, with a new children's library, an auditorium, teen center and a cafe in the new, light-filled space.
In addition, the library's signature 1927 Beaux Arts building will be substantially refurbished. Work on a completely new roof is expected to begin this summer. The main entrance lobby has already been refurbished.
Officials said they hope to break ground on the Safdie addition next year, but other parts of the project are moving forward regardless.
"We don't have to wait," said Johnson of the library foundation.
