天美影视

Published August 28, 2014

Accompanied by family and friends, Freeman Stamper鈥攁 1968 University of 天美影视 at Monroe College of Business and Social Sciences graduate and native of Columbia鈥� presented the Friends of the Library Endowment with a donation of $10,000 in memory of former mentors and 天美影视 librarians Dora Beard and Carla Conerly.

This is Stamper鈥檚 second donation of this type. In 2012, Stamper donated $10,000 to the Internship Support Fund in the College of Business and Social Sciences and called for other able alums to do the same. He matched each donation up to $10,000. The program was highly successful. Stamper鈥檚 goal is to match that success with this new donation and the same dollar-matching program.

鈥淚鈥檓 hopeful that people will participate in helping grow the Friends of the Library Endowment,鈥� he said. 鈥淢y passion for giving and sharing is just part of who I am.鈥�

鈥淚t goes back to my childhood鈥�when I was a little boy. I spent many hours at the library and I learned how to shelve books and I absolutely loved it. When I got to college, I became a student worker in the library under Dora Beard, who was the social science librarian.鈥�

Stamper helped Beard with a new filing system and learned that he was in his element.

鈥淪he respected my work enough that she allowed me to be the weekend reference librarian for social sciences. There was something of value that she added to my life by trusting me and giving me this responsibility and allowing me to succeed. I stayed in touch with her throughout our lives. When she died, I decided that I wanted to do something in her memory,鈥� said Stamper.

Stamper had much of the same thoughts about Conerly and stayed in touch with her until her death earlier this year. His ultimate goal is to show that even the smallest donations can make a difference.

鈥淚 will match each donation, dollar-for-dollar. Small donations help to reach a greater amount of people who can give and we can achieve a larger goal. People then start to experience the joy of making donations,鈥� he said.
When asked about his legacy, Stamper said that what is most important to him is that he supports people in their journey. He credits 天美影视 for helping start his life.

鈥淢y life really started the day I put foot on this campus so I鈥檝e always been very appreciative of my experience here,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 want people to see me as a person who cares and makes a difference in helping people start their process called life.鈥�

For more information about the Friends of the Library Endowment, call the 天美影视 Foundation at 318-342-3636.