Thank you, Libraries donors!

The NC State University Libraries is focused on supporting student success and making education more affordable for the Wolfpack. Donors responded to that mission with a variety of gifts to the Libraries on the 2022 Day of Giving—including the university’s most distant donation. Since the Libraries serves every student at NC State regardless of their college or department, these gifts add up to a university-wide triumph.

The Libraries’ 235 individual gifts added up to nearly $1.5 million on Day of Giving. And one of those 235 gifts came all the way from the city of Karrinyup on Australia’s west coast—11,567 miles away from Raleigh—winning a Day of Giving challenge for the Libraries. 

"We are so grateful to everyone who stepped up in such a big way to support the Libraries on Day of Giving,” says Jeremy Allen, Executive Director of Development. “The money donated on March 23 will have an incredible impact on student success and affordability for years to come."

Many donations went to the Libraries’ Student Resource Fund, which provides technology- and textbook-lending programs to promote more affordable education. As heard in this video testimonial, students have come to depend upon Libraries' laptops, chargers, WiFi hotspots, textbooks, and other resources—all for free—to reduce barriers to their success, including financial insecurity.

Donors also made gifts to the Libraries’ Student Scholarship Endowment on Day of Giving. The endowment supports a growing, needs-based scholarship program for Libraries student workers that reduces the financial burden of their education. Since the inception of the program in 2018, the Libraries has given 23 awards to 16 of its student workers—like Binita Thapa and Nyawira Nyota—with scholarships.

Some of the Libraries’ high-impact 2021 Day of Giving gifts include:

  • Ann Cornelson gave a major gift to name the Hunt Library Fishbowl and found a named endowment for discretionary support
  • Guy Solie established the Solie Family Scholarship Endowment with a large donation to support scholarships to student workers
  • Alaina Kupec and Kathy Brennan founded an endowment to support a collection of transgender-positive materials
  • Enhancing the Libraries’ collections on animal rights and animal welfare, Bernard Unti donated a substantial collection of animal studies books and ephemera
  • Mrs. Lucile L. Gabriel gave another major gift to the Libraries’ Lucile Laughinghouse Gabriel Scholarship Endowment
  • An anonymous donor gave an estate gift of $1 million to benefit the W. Louis and Margaret T. Dowdy endowment and the World War II: Causes to Conflict to Conclusion Endowment

"I am overwhelmed at the generosity of Libraries Friends and donors,” says Greg Raschke, Senior Vice Provost and Director of Libraries. “From helping students afford the technology and academic resources they need to succeed, to funding scholarships for current and future NC State students, to building endowments that help us acquire the latest published research for the University community—our donors made contributions that will benefit generations to come. NC State has a world-class library, and that is only made possible with the extra support provided by our donors."