Supporting a Lifelong Love of Learning
By Grace Merritt
Nancy Baker
For Nancy Baker ’72 (CLAS), college was a big deal: her parents never went because they came of age during the Great Depression. So, when she arrived in Storrs and began taking classes, she was captivated.
“For me, going to college really threw me into being in an environment of ideas. English, philosophy, and art history do that for you,” Baker says. “I remember thinking after I got to UConn, ‘Well, this isn’t like high school anymore.’ It was very special for me.”
Baker was so enamored with education that she devoted her career to it, becoming an academic librarian. In honor of where she first studied, she decided to leave a gift in her will for UConn’s libraries.
Baker, who grew up in Ohio, has fond memories of her days at UConn.
“What I remember the most there is the quality of the classes, the interest from the faculty, and the intellectual environment in the place,” she says. “I just loved it, and I made some good friends there. I was sad when it was over.”
Baker’s career took her to college libraries all around the country, culminating at the University of Iowa, where she directed all the university’s libraries. Over the years, she watched academic libraries evolve from book repositories to bustling hubs that provide a sense of community and access to a multitude of resources. Recognizing this, Baker decided not to restrict her planned gift to a particular program or area, giving future UConn librarians maximum flexibility.
“I want them to be able to use it in whatever way will be most pertinent to make the biggest difference to students and faculty at the University,” she says. “The library serves everybody, so if you give a gift to the library, whatever that library looks like in the future, you’re benefiting everybody.”
You too can honor what you love with a planned gift to the University of Connecticut Foundation. Contact Gregory A. Knott, PhD, JD at (860) 336-1468 or giftplanning@foundation.uconn.edu to learn more.
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