A bequest in excess of $1.4 million from a long-time supporter of the UCSF Kalmanovitz Library and Center for Knowledge Management will enable the continued growth of the Digital Library, an online database of millions of medical articles and hundreds of textbooks. This gift—the largest private contribution to the Kalmanovitz Library since its construction in 1990—will greatly increase the Digital Library's usefulness for UCSF faculty, students and staff.

A 1933 graduate of the UCSF School of Medicine, Bernard Lowenstein, MD, and his wife Bernice were regular donors to the University over the past two decades and established the Bernard and Bernice Lowenstein Fund in 1994 to support its library. By including UCSF in his estate plans, Lowenstein, who died in June 2002, was able to make a much larger gift than would have been possible during his lifetime. His planned gift creates an endowment that will provide support to the Library in perpetuity.

University Librarian and Assistant Vice Chancellor Karen A. Butter, ML, says that investment interest from the endowment will fund additions to the Digital Library, a priority of the Campaign for UCSF. Also known as GALEN—after the Greek physician and writer—the Digital Library is available around the clock to faculty and students, saving them innumerable hours tracking down physical copies of texts.

"The bequest is an incredible gift for the Library," Butter says. "This endowment will provide new resources that will enrich education, improve patient care and support new discoveries. We're extremely grateful to Bernard Lowenstein for his foresight."