Philanthropy Magnified

Reading can transform the lives of youth who can learn about faraway places. Most kids love stories and books can open their world to imagination and learning. Libraries can help challenge their thinking, gain confidence, and understand their world with books. Libraries promote equity by providing free and equal access to information and resources for everyone, regardless of their background, income, or status.

Long-time Ithaca residents Bernard and Shirley Rosen had supported libraries and reading programs for many years with charitable gifts. When the time came to create their estate plan, they consulted with their legal advisors to include a philanthropic bequest that would help young people develop a love of reading and a habit of using their local libraries. The Rosens wanted to ensure that their gift would continue to impact the lives of children in the community for years to come, so they chose the Community Foundation of Tompkins County to receive and administer their gift, knowing the local philanthropic service would honor their intentions forever.

Shirley Rosen died in 2007 and when Bernard passed away in 2009, their $2.7 million bequest created the Bernard and Shirley Rosen Library Fund at the Community Foundation. Each year since, the Rosen Fund has provided grants to support youth reading programs at libraries in Tompkins, Cayuga, Cortland, Seneca, and Tioga counties. The fund has made 358 grants to 33 libraries, totaling nearly $1.9 million.

Bernard documented his desire for the fund with specific language in his will: “The mission I intend for the Community Foundation Fund is to promote genuine intellectual curiosity and a lifelong love of reading and learning.” The specific purpose of the Bernard Carl and Shirley Rosen Library Fund is “to promote greater and easier access by youth to local libraries.” 

The Rosen Fund is an endowment, which means that the Community Foundation has been entrusted to invest and preserve Bernard and Shirley’s original gift for perpetuity. As the value of the fund grows, currently over $4 million, the investment earnings provide the money for annual grants to the Finger Lakes Library System. These grants support programs that allow or encourage children, teens, and families to visit, study, and read in a library.

The Fund has provided grants to rural libraries that enable access to books, reference materials, or other resources that might otherwise be unavailable to youth in those communities.  

One grant brought a critically acclaimed author, Sean Fay Wolfe, to 15 libraries. This grant application was the inspiration of Sara Knobel, Groton Public Library director, to join in a collaborative application. The teen author was met by enthusiastic fans inspired by his story.

“The Groton Public Library is the community hub, and this is due in large part to the Rosen Fund grant cycle. The programs funded have touched many children and families,” Sara Knobel, Groton Public Library Director, said. 

This month, the Rosen Fund awarded $160,500 in grants to 22 libraries for reading programs, storytelling sessions, and literacy workshops, which help foster a love for reading and learning from a young age. Many grants have helped libraries to purchase and give away books to young people.

“As a teen I spent time at my local library in Seneca County at the Edith B. Ford Memorial Library. My library played a fundamental role in my community development through their wide array of resources such as career planning, young adult literature, development of computer and multimedia skills. I made connections in the community, found academic assistance, and most importantly a positive environment to gather and study coursework,” said Ella Robinson, an Ovid teen, and proud cardholder of the Edith B. Ford Memorial Library.

Libraries play a vital role in our communities providing educational and recreational opportunities and community resources like internet access. Be sure to visit your local library and enjoy all that it has to offer.

Community Foundation can help to create a plan for you to realize your goals. What issues have affected you or those closest to you? Do you desire to give back to your community? Do you want to make a gift that will provide a positive end to an organization you care about? Community Foundation has worked with many local people and former residents exploring his/her interests by offering resources to create a philanthropic plan for anyone to realize their goals. 

Community Foundation invites readers to contact them at 607-272-9333, by visiting our website www.cftompkins.org  or hovering over our QR code.

Community Foundation of Tompkins County, established in 2000, welcomes inquiries from the community. Our mission is to bring people and resources together to build a more equitable Tompkins County by inspiring diverse philanthropy, catalyzing collaborations and championing inclusion and justice.