The Walter Raff Collection Development Endowment was established by Walter Raff, for many years a reference librarian at the Library. The initial donation was made during Mr. Raff's lifetime and considerably enlarged by his estate. According to the terms of the donation:
"The Donor's gift will be used to create an endowed fund held at the University called the Walter Raff Collection
Development Endowment. The Dr. John Archer Library at the University will review the collection holdings in
English Literature, including history and criticism, and History and Philosophy of Western Europe and select books
to be acquired for the Library on an ongoing basis. The purpose of this fund is to acquire books for the Dr. John
Archer Library at the University in the above noted subject areas. The endowment is created in perpetuity,
provided that sufficient capital is realized."
The fund supplements material obtained on the Library's regular acquisitions budget. The amount of money available each year varies with the performance of the underlying investments as affected by market fluctuations.
Printed bookplates indicating that books were purchased on the Walter Raff Collection Development Endowment were used in the first years of the fund. Electronic bookplates are now included in the bibliographic record in the Library catalog, for example, Jane Austen and the Arts.
