Profiles in Giving: UI Libraries

Bill and Celia Burger
Iowa City, Iowa

For Bill and Celia Burger of Iowa City, libraries are an essential part of community life. And as their substantial planned gift in 2002 to UI Libraries shows, the couple believe that supporting libraries is an important expression of social responsibility.

Bill, who graduated from the UI College of Law in 1963, has served as a senior vice president and trust officer with U.S. Bank in Iowa City until his recent appointment as Market President in Iowa City. He has been active in library development for years, beginning with 17 years of service on the Waterloo, Iowa, public library's board of directors. After the couple moved to Iowa City in 1990, he became a member -- and for a time, president -- of the Iowa City Public Library Friends Foundation.

Eventually Bill joined the Friends of the University Libraries Board, serving a year as president. He still sits on the board, and he is also a member of the National Steering Committee for the UI's comprehensive campaign, called Good. Better. Best. Iowa: The Campaign to Advance Our Great University. Clearly, giving back to the UI is an important part of Bill's civic life.

Celia is an educator and literacy expert. Among other positions, she has taught in classrooms, developed district-wide cultural literacy curricula for the Waterloo Community School District, and opened Iowa City's Irving B. Weber Elementary as its first principal. Currently, she is the director of curriculum for the Iowa-based company Breakthrough to Literacy, a McGraw-Hill company that grew out of research at the UI College of Education. With her background, it is no surprise that libraries -- including UI Libraries -- are important to her.

"As an educator, I understand the critical value of access to a well-supported library at all levels of learning," Celia says.

The Burgers see their support for UI libraries as an investment in UI students. "By sharing and encouraging others to do so as well," Celia says, "we help ensure that future generations will have the opportunity to succeed in the new century."

With committed individuals like Bill and Celia leading the way, the future of UI Libraries is in good hands.

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