CURRENT NEWS - August 14, 2007

Brooke Russell Astor (1902-2007)

The Trustees and staff of The New York Public Library deeply mourn the passing of our beloved Trustee and Honorary Chairman, Brooke Russell Astor.

No one in the modern history of the Library played a more pivotal role in promoting, and supporting, the welfare of the Library than Brooke Astor. As an engaged Trustee of the Library for nearly five decades, Mrs. Astor understood clearly how vital the Library is to the people of our City. She worked with passion, generosity, and immense style to strengthen the Library on every level. Her many substantial benefactions, made through the Vincent Astor Foundation, supported collections, programs, staff, and facilities throughout the Library system. They also inspired, directly and indirectly, the supremely generous gifts that many individuals made to the Library in her honor or made as a consequence of the example she set.

Mrs. Astor’s love of the Library stemmed in large part from her own passion for both reading and writing. An accomplished writer herself—of memoirs, novels, and poetry—she believed that all New Yorkers, regardless of circumstance, should have access to the Library and experience the enlightenment and pleasure to be found in reading. Mrs. Astor therefore enriched the lives of countless fellow citizens through her support of the Library’s work.

Brooke Astor was our patroness and our symbol. She transformed the Library in lasting ways, increasing its quality, its prestige, and its centrality in the life of our City. She was a great philanthropist, a great leader, and the best and most beloved of friends.

We extend our condolences to all members of her family.

Catherine C. Marron
Chairman

Samuel C. Butler
Elizabeth Rohatyn
Marshall Rose
Chairmen Emeriti

Paul LeClerc
President