Press Release

$15 Million Anonymous Donors to New York Public Library's Main Reading Room Revealed as Sandra Priest Rose and Frederick P. Rose

September 17, 1997, New York City: In a dramatic announcement at The New York Public Library's Board of Trustees meeting today, Library Chairman Elizabeth Rohatyn revealed that the anonymous gift of $15 million to renovate the Main Reading Room at the Library's landmark Center for the Humanities at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street was made by Sandra Priest Rose and Frederick P. Rose in honor of their children, Deborah, Jonathan F. P., Samuel Priest, and Adam R.

"With remarkable generosity and foresight, the Roses are not only supporting the rehabilitation of the symbolic centerpiece of our Library system," said Mrs. Rohatyn, "but as leading donors to our Second Century Campaign, they have primed the fund raising effort necessary to bring the Library into the 21st century."

The Rose's contribution is the largest single private gift in The New York Public Library's history and will support the first full renovation of the Main Reading Room since the building opened in 1911. "You can't help but appreciate the Library's egalitarian mission of free access when you see the enthusiasm for reading and learning that pervades every corner of the Main Reading Room," said Mrs. Rose, a Library trustee. "My husband and I, with the support and enthusiastic encouragement of our children, are committed to ensuring that this mission continues, even as demands for library service escalate in the century to come."

Although the Roses committed their gift in 1995, they asked that their support remain anonymous until the completion of the renovation. With the announcement today of the Library's $500 million campaign, however, they agreed to acknowledge their participation ahead of schedule. "In our conversations with Library President Paul LeClerc, we were convinced that announcing our gift now could help build the momentum to complete the Library's fund drive," said Mrs. Rose. "We certainly hope that anyone who values the Library and realizes how important its services are will be inspired to help in whatever fashion he or she can." The Library has so far raised a total of $350 million in public and private funds towards its goal of $500 million.

The Main Reading Room, which will be renamed the Deborah, Jonathan F. P., Samuel Priest, and Adam R. Rose Main Reading Room, is the central work space for researchers who use the Library's collections at the Center for the Humanities. The restoration by architects David Brody Bond, Ltd. will bring back the original feel and intent of the grand room's original Carrère and Hastings design. The ceiling and other architectural details that have suffered through nine decades of wear will be refurbished, and the black paint applied in World War II to the huge west-facing windows will be removed so that the room will once again be suffused with streams of natural light. The renovations will also rehabilitate mechanical systems that deliver books from Library stacks, increase the room's seating capacity, and provide proper accommodation for electronic work stations and readers' lap top computers. The reading room renovation work began July 14 and will continue until early 1999.

"Sandy and Fred have enriched the cultural and educational life of the city with their dedicated involvement in a wide variety of causes and organizations," said Elizabeth Rohatyn, whose term as Library Chairman ends today. In the last two decades the Roses have funded such major projects as the Samuel B. and David Rose Building at Lincoln Center, the Frederick Phineas and Sandra Priest Rose Center for Earth and Space at the American Museum of Natural History, and the Rose Alumni House at Yale University. At the Library they have previously made possible the rehabilitation of The New York Public Library's Yorkville and Aguilar branches, which were restored with major funding from the Roses in partnership with the City of New York. They also endowed the position of the Frederick Phineas and Sandra Priest Rose Chief Librarian of the General Research Division, the library professional who oversees the service provided in the Main Reading Room.

In her career and outside activities, Mrs. Rose has been a passionate advocate of reading. "The pleasure derived from books has enhanced my life immeasurably," she said. "I've always felt that working to extend this enjoyment to others was a worthy occupation." Mrs. Rose has been a member of the Library's Board of Trustees since 1986 and is Chairman of the Branch Libraries Council, which serves as a link between the Library and local communities. She is a founding trustee and reading consultant at the Reading Reform Foundation, an organization that trains teachers in the instruction of reading. Additionally, she serves as a trustee of Manhattanville College, Federation Employment and Guidance Service, and the Hebrew Technical Institute. She previously worked in public schools as a reading consultant to the New York City Board of Education.

Frederick P. Rose is Chairman of Rose Associates, a leading New York City real estate development firm. He is a trustee of such nonprofit institutions as Rockefeller University, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the American Museum of Natural History, and the New York Philharmonic, and is Vice Chairman of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Mr. Rose was previously a trustee of Yale University and president of the Scarsdale Board of Education. He is also a former board member of Consolidated Edison Company, the Phoenix Home Life Mutual Insurance Company, and other corporations.

"Libraries have been very important to my family and me in our personal and professional lives," said Mr. Rose. "We are making this gift in honor of our children, with the hope that the Main Reading Room will help and inspire others as it has all of us in the Rose family."

For further information, press please call Nancy Donner or Caroline Oyama, Public Relations Office, at (212) 221-7676.

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