A New Benefactor

Photo by Christina Hribar, New York Magazine

The recipe for the New York Public Library includes a long ingredient list of smart and/or wealthy men:  Astor, Lenox, Tilden, Bigelow, Billings,  Carrere, Hastings....but what about Schwarzman, the name now etched in the marble and plated in gold at the library’s entrances?  Where did he come from and why is the Central Reference Building of the New York Public Library named after him?  

Schwarzman came from Philadelphia and after gathering an education at Yale and Harvard moved onto NYC where he co-founded the Blackstone Group, a rather successful private equity group.  The 64 year old billionaire epitomizes the not too pretty image of the aggressive Wall Street investment banker (a 2008 profile in The New Yorker by James Stewart, offers a revealing peek into his personality and motivations).  While he doesn’t exactly fit the Carnegie/Buffet/Gates mold and, as of 2010 had not yet committed to the “Giving Pledge”, he did initiate ‘The Blackstone Foundation’ in 2007, “a $50 million five-year commitment to support innovative programs that foster entrepreneurship and, in turn, the high-growth businesses and industries that are most known to spark economic growth and produce enduring results in geographies hardest hit by the global economic crisis.”  He also serves on the board of trustees of numerous non-profit organizations, including the New York Public Library.  

On March 11, 2008, Schwarzman made the announcement that he would give $100 million to the NYPL as part of their billion dollar expansion plan.  The gift was the largest single gift in the library’s history and, according to an article in Library Journal, the largest "outright, unrestricted gift by an individual to any cultural organization in New York City,"  Schwarzman reported that the library approached him with an offer,  ‘We’d like you to be the lead gift and give us $100 million and we’d like to rename the main branch after you.” He replied, “That sounds pretty good. ”

New York Landmarks Preservation Commission unanimously agreed to add Schwarzman’s name to the library’s facade in 5 places; at the base of the two columns at the main entrance, on the floor outside the front door and in the marble below the lamps at the 42nd street entrance - it was the first major change to the exterior of the building in a century.  They was great discussion over the locations of Schwarzman’s name and the height of the lettering.  According to Marc Santora’s article in the NYT, “the letters will range from 1 to 2 ½ inches in height.  The name will not be as big as some others high atop the facade on Fifth Avenue — like Astor and Tilden — but it will be visible to all who pass by or ascend the steps.”

The change stirred up some concern about the precedent set by such “excessive” thanks but the library’s director, Paul LeClerc, promised that they would never again ask to carve a name into the library’s facade and argued that just as Astor, Lenox and Tilden’s fortunes had created the library, Schwarzman’s gift will allow the library to continue to thrive into the 21st century.
My guess is that Tilden, Lenox, and certainly Astor, would welcome the newest member of the “Library Club” with open arms, as long as they don’t have to sacrifice any of their space at the marble entrance.

Better World Books

http://www.betterworldbooks.com/

Did you ever wonder what happened to all the books that the library discards?  Before Xavier Helgesen and Christopher 'Kreece' Fuchs came up with the brilliant idea of Better World Books, they were often boxed up and languished in backrooms and basements or even (horrors) put out on the curb with the trash.  According to their website, Xavier and Kreece were in search of ‘life plan’ after graduating from the University of Notre Dame when they began selling textbooks online.  They discovered that there were plenty of unloved and unwanted books across the country that needed to be re-purposed.  They began collecting books (from everywhere) and either selling them online or giving them to organizations that desperately needed books.  Pprofits they made from selling books went into funding literacy programs like Books for Africa, Invisible Children and Worldfund.    Libraries also receive a percentage of the book sales for the books they donated.
Their plan was enormously successful.  To date they have raised over $9 million for libraries and literacy programs and collected 48 million unwanted books.  That’s 48 million books doing good, right now, across the planet.  They currently work with 2,000 libraries across the country (as well as colleges and universities) to collect books that need new homes.  Because they also care about the planet (I know, they seems too good to be true) they balance their carbon emissions by buying Renewable Energy Certificates from 3Degrees (a carbon balancing service provider).  And, of course, there are the 8,000 tons of books they have kept out of the landfill.
Just when I thought they should put their feet up and take vacation, they started a new program.  LEAP stands for Literacy and Education in Action and  is a grant giving program that funds specific literacy ventures around the world. Each grant project is listed on their site with exact details of how they are improving the world.  Better World has awarded $125,000 to organizations working to improve literacy.  Groups like Feed the Children, Room to Read and The Robinson Community Learning Center have posted their ambitious projects for readers to follow.
So the next time you buy a book don’t even think about going anywhere else.  Better World Books is one stop do-gooder shopping: raising money for literacy, creating jobs, saving books from clogging the landfill and providing books for readers around the world.  Truly inspiring work.

The Giving Pledge

From Harper's Weekly 1903

Last week Paul Allen’s Family Foundation awarded $8.5 million dollars to non-profit organizations in the Northwest and half a million was directed to libraries.  The Seattle Times reported that the grant’s goal was to help librarians meet the needs of patrons and promote libraries as places of lifelong learning - hey...doesn’t that remind you of what Andrew Carnegie was doing about 100 years ago?  Even though it seems that we are in the midst of an unprecedented library crisis; funding slashed daily, branches closing and librarians losing their jobs, we have really just made a big circle loop back to our library roots - relying on private philanthropists (and the occasional corporate neighbor) to support the library as a community resource.  Not exactly progress.

Carnegie believed that the rich had a responsibility to give away their money to ‘do good’ during their lifetime.  He certainly put his money where his mouth was and spent the end of his life dolling out grants to create 2,500 libraries around the world (this was just one of the projects he spent his great fortune on).  Carnegie thought that “the best means of benefiting the community is to place within its reach the ladder upon which the aspiring can rise”.

Carnegie would have been on of the first to sign “The Giving Pledge” a moral imperative established by Bill & Melinda Gates and Warren Buffet in 2010.  Wealthy families and individuals who sign the pledge promise to give away the majority (at least 50%) of their wealth to charitable causes during their lifetime.  The Giving Pledge website provide a list and the original commitment letters of the families and individuals who have accepted the challenge (Paul Allen is at the top of the alphabetical list).  Warren Buffet’s letter explains that his goal is to give away 99% of his fortune before his death.  He told ABC news that “the idea that you should be able to do nothing in this world for the rest of your life and [the lives of] your children and grandchildren … does not really seem to be very American.  I want my money to have the greatest impact on improving the lives of the most people,”

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, one of the largest foundations in the world, has made major contributions to libraries across the country with the understanding that if people can get to a library, then they can get to the Internet and the world.  In 2008 they gave $8.1 million to libraries in low income areas in eleven states to upgrade outdated computers and support free, public access to computers (yes, I do know where the computers are coming from but I still feel good about it).  Just like Carnegie, the Gates Foundation requires that communities provide matching funds.
So, as scary as it seems, we are once again at the mercy of the affluent when it comes to providing crucial services to sustain our democracy.  For the moment, the wealthy seem to have money to burn and  understand the critical role that the library plays in promoting an educated citizenry - let’s just hope it stays that way.

Michael R. Bloomberg: "If you want to do something for your children and show how much you love them, the single best thing - by far - is to support organizations that will create a better world for them and their children. And by giving, we inspire others to give of themselves, whether their money or their time."