The New York Public Library and the Central Park Conservancy are the beneficiaries of $10 million each from the estate of Mary McConnell Bailey, surprising officials at both institutions.

 

The New York Post reported that Bailey died in February 2011, aged 88, and had lived alone in New York since the 1940s, after her husband died in World War II. When Bailey’s mother died, she received a large inheritance, mostly wealth accumulated from owning shares of the Roaring Spring Blank Book Co., now known as Roaring Spring Paper Products, makers of marble-covered student notebooks.

 

The New York Times added that the library will split their donation, with half of the money going toward programs and materials at branches in Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island, and the other half going to help fund its four research libraries. The Times also said that in recent years Bailey had donated more and more money to the Conservancy, but officials with the group were still surprised by the size of this gift.

 

View the story online at the New York Business Journal.