"The library is a key to the quality of a college through its retrospective collections, continuous pertinent acquisitions of journals and books, preservation of its holdings and now through a variety of technologies which allow for sophisticated cataloging and the searching of quantities of databases around the world," said Couper, a life trustee and 1944 graduate of Hamilton.
The Coupers' promise to endow the library directorship will allow the college to make learning, scholarship and new communications technology a priority for the next century," said Hamilton College President Eugene M. Tobin. "Members of the Couper family have been innovative leaders at Hamilton for many decades."
The Daniel Burke Library at Hamilton College holds more than half a million volumes. With study space for 1,000 students, more than 700 undergraduates take advantage of the library's facilities on a daily basis.
"One of the library's greatest goals," said Ralph Stenstrom, director of the Burke Library, "is to provide resources that will enhance the educational goals of the college and faculty, while at the same time anticipating the research needs of the students and supporting faculty scholarship."
On Friday, June 4, the college honored the Coupers' extended commitment to Hamilton. Warren J. Haas, former vice president and head of the libraries at Columbia University and former president of the Council on Libraries, gave a talk, "The Foundation for the Future of Libraries."
Couper, his wife, Patsy, and others members of their family have devoted themselves to lifetime support of Hamilton College and its success. Their endowment in support of the librarian position is only the most recent in a series of gifts that include the Williams-Watrous-Couper faculty research fund and the Couper Fund.
"I am delighted to help strengthen Hamilton's position as a superior liberal arts college by funding the position of librarian, thus ensuring continuous and appropriate support for students and faculty in both print and technologic sources," Couper said.
Couper, president emeritus of the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation and of the New York Public Library, was born in Binghamton, N.Y. He entered Hamilton College with the class of 1944, but because of war years graduated in 1947 with Phi Beta Kappa honors. He earned an M.A. from Harvard University, concentrating in American history.
Couper has served his undergraduate alma mater in many capacities, including chairman of the Alumni Fund in 1957, trustee since 1959, vice president from 1962-66, and acting president 1966-68. After 10 years as president and chief executive officer of the New York Public Library, he served as president of the Wilson Foundation until his retirement.
Couper has received a number of honorary degrees, the first of which was awarded by Hamilton. His own keen interest in history prompted Couper to make the library position a priority, "that encourages genius to function."
