News

Libraries land $1 million

A University of Wisconsin alumnus and longtime contributor gave UW libraries nearly $1 million to benefit Friends of the UW-Madison Library initiatives in an endowment announced Monday.

Douglas Schewe passed away in March 2006 and left the endowment to promote reading and outreach programs to expand print media at UW and in wider Madison communities.

The fund had undergone standard legal procedures for the past year and was only recently released to the University of Wisconsin Foundation.

"This wonderful gift will allow the Friends to expand our programming in a number of ways to serve both the campus and the Madison community," said Chris Kleinhenz, president of Friends of the UW-Madison Library. "This will enable us to be a more active contributor to the Wisconsin Idea."

Kleinhenz said the money could be used to support library studies graduate students and present high-profile lecturers, as well as help the university purchase book collections to enrich the library system.

Friends of the UW-Madison Library currently contributes about $20,000 annually to UW's libraries for supplies and programs surpassing their budgets, Kleinhenz said. According to the UW Foundation, the endowment will increase the grant up to $65,000 annually.

"This fund will increase the Friends' ability to provide grants … about 60 percent," Kleinhenz added.

UW spokesperson Don Johnson said the UW Foundation would keep the donations for at least 12 months, and then make the interest of the assets available for library use.

Johnson called Schewe a "generous donor" to the humanities at UW and said he had also made significant donations to the Chazen Museum of Art, the Art History Department and the School of Medicine and Public Health.

Schewe was a UW graduate who taught reading and English at Madison Area Technical College for 23 years until he retired in 1993.

John Tortorice, a former library employee and friend, said Schewe was deeply interested in the psychology of learning and led a very active and intellectual life.

"His passion was reading, especially religious studies, literature and history," Tortorice said in a statement. "Schewe visited campus almost daily to visit the libraries, attend lectures and to meet friends — he was a true example of lifelong learning."