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Stamford Campus Names Reading Room for Leonard & Barbara Schreiber
The University will honor dedicated friends of the Stamford Regional Campus Library by naming the reading room in the new downtown library for Leonard and Barbara Schreiber. A highly regarded member of the UConn/Stamford family, Barbara developed long and close relationships throughout the campus, first as a student, then as a teaching assistant and, in the last year of her life, as an English Department faculty member. She spent much of her time in the library and was personally committed to its welfare.To honor his wife, Leonard Schreiber established the Barbara E. Schreiber Memorial Library Fund and the Barbara E. Schreiber Scholarship Memorial Fund in June 1994. Through his gifts, as well as those from friends, the Schreiber Library Fund's principal has grown to more than $40,000. The fund provides general support for the purchase of books, publications, and services relating to the humanities, particularly literature and music, which were of great interest to Barbara. The library and scholarship endowment funds will receive generous bequests through Mr. Schreiber's will. Recently, Mr. Schreiber commented, "Barbara was interested in both the library and scholarships for Stamford students. In her lifetime, she always made an annual gift to UConn/Stamford, and I continued to do so afterher death. Both the scholarship and library funds are given in her memory."
Barbara's interest in the library began as a student in a Shakespeare course taught by Jeremy Richard. Students were required to view the plays on videotape as well as read them. Barbara wanted to borrow a tape that the library did not own and learned that the library could afford to own only a small number of the tapes. As a result, she purchased, anonymously, all the BBC Shakespeare plays for the library. This $3000 gift became the first of many to follow.
Barbara considered Jeremy Richard her mentor and the person most responsible for encouraging and guiding her to teach at the college level. When he died in 1990, she became an active member of a committee formed to have the library named in his honor. The committee's efforts were successful, and the library became the Jeremy Richard Library in 1991. Barbara also provided a leadership gift of $10,000 to help establish the Jeremy Richard Endowment Fund and made subsequent anonymous gifts totalling $20,000 to the fund.
At the time of her death, Barbara was in charge of the Writing Center and teaching her second English course. Before being hired as an adjunct instructor, she had been a teaching assistant in the English Department. Gary Storhoff, head of the English program on the Stamford Campus, remembers her as ".extraordinarily conscientious. She was very good with insecure but bright students, foreign students, and students with severe remedial problems. She was always available for the students. She was one of the best adjuncts on the Stamford campus and was very highly rated by students." Her friend Kay DeWitt had this to say of Barbara, "She was a friend and a mentor.teaching and learning were her joys. Her curiosity about and enthusiasm for life were infectious. "
Through the beneficence and vision of Barbara and Leonard Schreiber, the University of Connecticut at Stamford and the Jeremy Richard Library are better able to provide educational opportunity and resources for students today and in the future. For that we thank them.
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