Ruby M. Jefferson

Ruby M. Jefferson Memorial Book Fund

In 2011, the Friends & Foundation of the Rochester Public Library was delighted to receive a heartfelt donation from the estate and family of a longtime library volunteer to establish the Ruby M. Jefferson Memorial Book Fund.

In the 1960s, Ruby M. Jefferson volunteered at the Wheatley and Winton branches, and was married to Frederick Douglass Jefferson, a prominent minister and theologian who taught at Colgate Rochester Divinity School and was Pastor of Trinity Emmanuel Presbyterian Church.

The aim of the Ruby M. Jefferson Memorial Book Fund at the Rochester Public Library is ‘to promote literacy and build self-esteem in elementary school-age children in the City of Rochester’, by annually buying books and giving them at no cost to children in need.

The Ruby M. Jefferson Memorial Book Fund is a permanently restricted endowment fund whose annual earnings help the Library continue supporting kids and literacy in the City of Rochester, and is the first step towards creating a larger, lasting fund that will be used to give away books to future generations of children striving to achieve literacy proficiency.

To give a gift today, complete the Special Projects Donation Form and mail to FFRPL, email donna.borgus@libraryweb.org or call (585) 428-8321 or (585) 428-8322.