Our History

In 1982, the Love Trust was established with a $350,000 estate gift from Cornelia Spencer Love. To date, the Love Trust has contributed more than $2.3 million to the Library.

Cornelia Spencer Love was a Trustee of the Chapel Hill Public Library from its inception in 1958 until 1970 and served as secretary to its Board of Directors. She was instrumental in the founding of the Chapel Hill Public Library in a small house in downtown Chapel Hill. In the 1960s, she donated private funds to help build a new library on East Franklin Street. Love died in 1981 at the age of 89. 

Since 1999, the Foundation has managed the Love Trust and thanks to that stewardship it has funded many library improvement projects including furnishings for the new Teen Library, the Main Reading Room, Adult Reference and Information Services, and the Periodicals Reading Room, a Digital Media Lab, a mobile computer lab program and assistive technology for the visually impaired.

In recent years, the Foundation has made a positive impact that area residents can see and enjoy when they visit the library. Improvements funded by the Foundation nclude: the purchase & maintenance of the Automated Book Sorting Machine "Bookie Monster", furnishing & covering the West terrace, & furnishing the lower level reading room. Read more about these improvements here.