Lucy Boyle Collection takes shape at DI Library

Lucy Boyle would have celebrated her 15th birthday on April 11th of this year. The daughter of Daniel Island Library Branch Manager Tim Boyle, Lucy passed away unexpectedly in 2015 after surgical complications, but her life and legacy have inspired a lasting gift for the community.

The Lucy Boyle Memorial Fund, established earlier this year by Daniel Island resident John Gilsenan, with assistance from several other community members, has received more than $15,000 in donations, including a $10,000 grant from the Daniel Island Community Fund. The monies are being used to start a new collection of STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) books, resources and programs, reflective of Lucy’s interests.

“I never saw her without a book in her hand,” noted Tim. “She could read a trilogy in an afternoon! She also loved coding.”

Already, the funds have helped the Daniel Island location purchase 32 titles that are now on the shelves and ready to check out. The Lucy Boyle Collection is geared towards children between the ages of 8 to 14, but it is open to all ages.

“We didn’t know what to expect,” noted Gilsenan, when asked about the community’s support of the fund. “And the response – the individual families responding, donations ranging from a dollar in an envelope, $5 in an envelope, up to some very impressive figures…everybody has been so generous.”

When Gilsenan originally launched the effort to create a meaningful tribute to Lucy, he admits he wasn’t exactly sure how it would be structured at first.

“My initial though was we just can’t let her disappear,” he said. “So it was a memorial sort of thing…and then it became an interactive memorial…It’s taken on a life of its own. That’s totally unexpected! I didn’t envision that. I was thinking one dimensional, and now it’s three-dimensional.”

The LBMF Collection will also provide on-site programming on coding and other STEM-topics, said Gilsenan. Ultimately, based on the program’s success on Daniel Island, the goal is to expand the collection to other BCLS locations. “It’s an on-going thing and it’s community-funded,” added Gilsenan. “People have a stake in it. They contribute to it and they can see it. They can touch it, they can come in and they can listen to it.”

For more information on the Lucy Boyle Memorial Fund, please visit http://berkeleylibrarysc.org/lb-memorial-fund/.