Archived News Release from 2008

For Immediate Release

Redwood City Library Foundation Receives Largest Gift from an Individual

Redwood City, CA - March 14th , 2008 – The Redwood City Library Foundation is pleased and gratified to announce that it has received a $112,000 donation from the Beverley Hemphill Trust, the largest gift from an individual in the Foundation’s ten-year history. The Foundation received the generous gift seven months after Ms. Hemphill’s death.

$50,000 of the gift will be applied to the Campaign for the Opening Day Collection, a public campaign to raise $850,000 required to fill the new Redwood Shores Library with book and media content. The years-long effort is nearing completion, with just $26,000 remaining to be raised. Visit the Foundation’s website at www.rclfdn.org.

“Beverley was a person of great foresight. We are thrilled to count her as one of our major donors and to recognize her on the Donor Wall of the new library,” said Sandra Cooperman, Co-President of the Foundation. “Her legacy will benefit so many and her name high on that Wall will serve to inspire others.”

A long-time Redwood City resident, Ms. Hemphill had a great love of books and history. She devoted countless hours as a volunteer for the Archives Committee of the Library, taking and transcribing oral histories of colorful local residents, among other efforts. A relentless reader and a charming personality, she became a staff favorite on her many visits to the library. When the Redwood City Library Foundation incorporated in 1998 she became a generous and endearing supporter.

Ms. Hemphill grew up in Coalinga and attended the University of California Berkeley, graduating in the 1930’s with a Masters in psychology. She returned home after college to help support her mother and brother, and enlisted in the United States Coast Guard in World War II, eventually marrying banker George Hemphill. Beverley lived in the same home she shared with her husband near Kennedy Middle School for over 60 years. In addition to the unrestricted gift to the Foundation, Ms. Hemphill left $51,000 to the Redwood City Public Library.

The Redwood City Public Library offers many free programs for children, adults, and families, and is the learning center of our community. For more information about library events and services you may access the library’s home page at www.redwoodcity.org/library or call 780-7026.

Visit Redwood City’s award-winning website at www.redwoodcity.org for information about the City and its services, the community, recreation programs, education, and local business. Take a look at the variety of City webcams at www.redwoodcity.org/webcam, and subscribe to Redwood City’s email newsletter or other documents by visiting www.redwoodcity.org/egov.

###

Contact:
Celia LaRiviere, Executive Director
Redwood City Library Foundation
(650)780-7045