The Springfield-Greene County Library Foundation has received its largest gift to date. Ava Louise Gager Smith, a retired geologist and lifelong library user who passed away in May, left the foundation $2.34 million.
The foundation’s executive director, Bridget Dierks, said they’ll set up an endowment in Smith’s name that will positively impact the library district forever.
“It’s profoundly impactful, and it was unexpected,” she said. “Mrs. Smith never notified us of this gift in advance, and we were very surprised. She was a lover of the library. She was a decades-long user of our library system and frequented our libraries, particularly Schweitzer Brentwood, very, very, regularly and used a wide variety of our services. She checked out thousands of books and used our meeting rooms and participated in our gatherings and clubs.”…