New York Public Library Receives $15M Gift

Philanthropist and New York Public Library Trustee Katharine J. Rayner has given the Library a $15 million gift to strengthen and advance the institution’s internationally-renowned research collections.

The major gift, announced at the Library’s Board of Trustees meeting, establishes the “Katharine J. Rayner Fund for Special Collections,” which will fund the Library’s acquisition of special collections material such as archives, manuscripts, rare books and maps.

The Library maintains special collections at three of its research centers: The Stephen A. Schwarzman Building on Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street, The Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem.

Rayner is, and has been for some time, a dedicated supporter of the Library’s research and special collections. In addition to her generous support during Library fundraising campaigns, Rayner has made gifts to support several of the Library’s most important recent research acquisitions, including Tom Wolfe’s archive in 2013 and the James Baldwin papers earlier this year.