Verba Fund Enriches HUL

Three months before Sidney Verba ’53 is to retire as Harvard’s longest serving chief librarian, a $2.5 million endowed fund for the Harvard University Library (HUL) has been created in his honor.

The establishment of the Sidney Verba Library Fund was announced last Thursday by Frances D. Fergusson, president-elect of Harvard’s Board of Overseers and the chair of the Overseers’ Committee to Visit the University Library, at a tribute dinner for Verba.

Verba, who can designate how the fund is spent under the terms of its creation, said he plans to make it available to his successor as a discretionary pool.

This arrangement differs from the vast majority of existing endowments for the Harvard library system, which are earmarked for specific purposes, according to Peggy D. Molander, director of development for the Harvard College Library.

In an interview with The Crimson yesterday, Verba said that having flexible funds is especially important for HUL, as it has become involved in many technological projects in recent years. These include a drive to digitize Harvard’s library holdings.

Fergusson wrote in an e-mailed statement, “As a college president, I can tell you that discretionary funds of this sort are rare indeed—and that they can be strategically important in an environment where every dollar is spoken for.”

Fergusson was formerly president of Vassar.

According to HUL’s annual reports, its budget grew to $16.1 million in the 2004-2005 year, up from $12.7 million in the previous year. The figures for 2005-2006 are not yet available.

Much of the funding for new projects in the past has come from sources outside Harvard, according to Verba.

“To have funds without having to pass the hat around the various faculties provides a lot of flexibility,” he said. “It’s the sort of thing that if I had, I would have greatly valued.”

Seed money for the fund was provided by an anonymous gift, according to Molander. Fergusson also helped to solicit donors to expand on the initial donation.

“This vital new endowment fund—and the tremendous generosity that it represents—demonstrates the long-term significance of Sidney Verba’s tenure in the University Library,” Fergusson wrote.

An HUL spokesman said that Fergusson was not available for an interview.

—Staff writer David Jiang can be reached at djiang@fas.harvard.edu.