Gift Brings New Feature to Library Children's Area

There’s a new addition to the children’s area in the UW Tacoma library. A study carrel has been installed. “Professor [Belinda] Louie made a donation during the 2022 Husky Giving Day that we were able to match,” said Annie Downey, Director of UW Tacoma’s Library.

Louie has a long history of philanthropy when it comes to the library. “The fact that we have the children’s area is largely thanks to an endowment created by Belinda and her husband,” said Downey. The endowment is used to purchase children’s books.  “We use the funds to purchase books from a diverse range of authors,” said Megan Gregory, Learning Commons and Access Services Manager.

The carrel is meant to make the library a more welcoming space. “It really is an issue of equity for students who are also parents,” said Gregory. “This provides them with a place where they can bring their children while they [the students] study.”

Louie is one of UW Tacoma’s founding faculty in the School of Education. “One of the things that struck me is that Belinda has talked a lot about how her kids grew up on the Tacoma campus, that they were here all the time and spent a lot of time in the library studying and looking at books,” said Downey. “That’s part of why she wants to be able to have that kind of space available for students.”

The UW Tacoma Library and UW Libraries Advancement plan to celebrate Louie’s contributions during “Children Belong: A Library Celebration." The event is Monday, April 24 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m..