plain teal background

Our Donors

Explore how people like you have supported collections.  

About our library collection funds

As a leading cultural heritage institution, Harvard Library excels at creating, growing, and preserving our collections and our past. An extraordinary range of services ensures that our users received the maximum benefit from our collections. Together, our collections and services encourage and support scholars both at Harvard and across the globe in the pursuit of truth.

We believe that advancing open knowledge is the critical underpinning of this work and supports the accomplishments of today’s thought leaders. We invite you to champion our commitment. By supporting our services, our collections, and our efforts to provide open and equitable access, you join us in providing scholars around the globe with the tools with which to solve the world’s most pressing problems.

History of the funds

In 1774, Thomas Hollis established the first endowed book fund at Harvard with the bequest of 500£ sterling. Over the following two centuries, the Library has celebrated the generosity of thousands of donors with bookplates, named spaces, named positions, and a variety of other commemorations.

Today’s collections have grown into a vast resource, encompassing not just printed books, but an array of materials ranging from photographs to audio recordings to born-digital journals. Additionally, donors, alumni, and friends have generously supported our services, making them the envy of the scholarly world. While those gifts are less amenable to bookplating, we celebrate and thank all of our donors through this site.

Become a donor