$80 million for Seattle Public Library

From the Seattle Times:

In 1998, just weeks after voters agreed to spend $196 million to build a new downtown library and improve branch libraries, the Seattle Public Library Foundation announced an ambitious goal of raising $60 million in private money.

When former Microsoft executive Charles Simonyi announced his $3 million gift yesterday, that put the total raised at more than $80 million — far exceeding what the foundation had dreamed of.

“This is more than any public library in the country,” said Terry Collings, executive director of the foundation …

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