The New York Public Library Spring Dinner for Education Honors Abby and Howard Milstein
June 3rd, 2013On June 3, 2013, the Spring Dinner for Education brought together many of The New York Public Library’s most dedicated supporters to honor Abby and Howard Milstein for their extraordinary support of the Library, as well as recognize the Library’s 2013 Astor Award Winner, Jon Green of The Urban Assembly.
Abby Milstein, a Library trustee, and Howard Milstein donated $8 million to the New York Public Library (NYPL), enabling the new Central Library Plan to move forward. The gift supports building additional storage space at the Stephen Schwarzman Building so that nearly twice as many volumes can be kept in the 42nd Street building as originally planned, answering the requests of scholars and researchers. “It is clearly important to scholars to have immediate access to research material,” NYPL President Anthony Marx said at the time. “Today’s vote by the Board, along with a generous gift from the Milsteins, makes this possible.”
Abby S. Milstein is a Trustee of the New York Public Library, where she co-chairs the Committee on Library Policy and serves on the Executive Committee and many other committees. For 15 years, she chaired or co-chaired the Library’s Literary Luncheon. “My experience on the Library’s Board has shown me the importance of The New York Public Library to every community we serve,” Abby Milstein said. “Maintaining the heart of our research holdings adjacent to the Library will preserve this invaluable resource for scholars and researchers, while allowing space for a spectacular new circulating library to better serve all of our users.”
Howard Milstein added, “This exciting new project will propel The New York Public Library into the future. It deserves the support of the Board and people who love the Library. Our commitment is a vote of confidence in President Tony Marx and the entire Board of the Library.”
- Howard Milstein, New York Public Library President and CEO Anthony Marx, and Abby Milstein at the 2013 Spring Dinner for Education.
Support for the Spring Dinner for Education enables the Library to serve New Yorkers of all ages by providing unfettered access to information, knowledge, and educational opportunities. Among the programs supported by the dinner are MyLibraryNYC, an innovative partnership with the Department of Education, whose public school student members are three times more likely to check out library books than their peers at nonparticipating schools. The Library has doubled the number of English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes in the last six months and is investing in computer literacy classes and technology training programs. The proceeds from the dinner, which raised more than $1.3 million, will support these programs and many others that promote the Library’s role as an economic engine and a gateway to personal growth.
SOURCE: New York Public Library
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