MANHATTAN — The children of Joyce and H.D. “Joe” Hale have donated $500,000 to the Hale Library first-floor renovation project at Kansas State University. In recognition of their gift, the café in the new space will be named in honor of the Hale family.
The Hale children are John Hale, Dana Nelson, Karen Young, Alan Hale, Lisa Hale and Mollie Carter.
The renovation project will create a more accessible first-floor entrance. It also will include group study spaces, instruction rooms, satellite meeting spaces for student services, exhibit space for special collections, a café and flexible event space. In addition, the project will provide a home for the Center for the Advancement of Digital Scholarship and the Open/Alternative Textbook Initiative.
“When Hale Library was built in the late ’90s, students used libraries in a more solitary way,” said Lori Goetsch, dean of K-State Libraries. “Students accessed physical copies of books and journals to complete research projects in isolation. Today, online research, collaboration and group assignments are integral parts of college courses. This renovation will help the K-State Libraries enhance our role by supporting collaboration and multidisciplinary studies, which are vital to the continued academic success of K-Staters and in reaching K-State’s goal of being nationally recognized as a Top 50 public research university.”
Nearly three decades ago, Joyce and Joe Hale gave the lead gift to build the Hale Library addition to Farrell Library, providing vital space for resources and studying. When Hale family members learned about the current need to renovate the first floor of the library, they chose to invest in Kansas State University again by supporting this project.
“Our family has deep roots in Kansas and a long connection with K-State,” Alan Hale said. “We believe strongly in education, so efforts like the library renovation speak to the values we hold. We’re proud of our family’s association with the library and K-State’s academic achievements. Supporting the library renovation seemed like a natural thing for us to do.”
The $6.5 million renovation will be completely funded by private gifts; no state money and no student tuition or fees will be used on the project. When completed, this will be the first capital improvement effort in K-State Libraries’ history funded entirely through philanthropic gifts.
As Kansas State University’s strategic partner for philanthropy, the KSU Foundation inspires and guides philanthropy toward university priorities to boldly advance K-State family. The foundation is leading Innovation and Inspiration: The Campaign for Kansas State University to raise $1.4 billion for student success, faculty development, facility enhancement and programmatic success. Visit www.ksufoundation.org for more information.