Carl Leonard, who with his wife Mary gifted $25,000 to the Whangarei Libraries in 2005, has died at his home in Brisbane at the age of 87.
Updated:
22/03/2011 5:40 p.m.
The donation by the unassuming American yachting couple is the largest financial donation ever received by Whangarei District Libraries.
Mr and Mrs Leonard, who were 81 and 94 respectively at the time, said their reason for giving the money was to repay the city they came to think of as "home". The couple had been visiting Whangarei almost every year since 1972, spending around half the year in or around Whangarei based on their yacht ‘Annabelle’ and the other half in Brisbane.
"We have reaped the benefits of living here and we just would like to give back something to the community," Mrs Leonard said at the time.
They saw the library as an ideal recipient because it was public, unrestricted and free.
The original brief for the ‘Carl and Mary Leonard Collection’ which is located at the Central Library, was to buy books and other printed material which would assist young people in choosing a career path. It soon became clear that there was more information published in other formats which would enhance the quality of the collection.
“With the permission of the Leonards the Library has been able to purchase this material which ensures we provide comprehensive and current information,” says Libraries Manager Paula Urlich. “Whangarei Libraries appreciates the need for young people to have access to the internet as they search for jobs and prepare CVs. With this in mind we have set up a free research facility adjacent to both the ‘Carl and Mary Leonard’ Collection and the Teens Collection.”
At the time of the gift, Carl Leonard noted that Whangarei was a "very unique place" for sailors. "There's no other place in the world that we have ever been that measures up to Whangarei in terms of a place to have a yacht. Part of it is the convenience of living right downtown, the other part is it has a nice atmosphere to it ... It's a community."
In recent years the Leonards were not able to spend as much time in Whangarei and were based primarily in Brisbane. Carl is survived by his wife Mary, who turned 100 years old on the day he died.