Larkspur Library Receives Largest Donation Ever

The Marin County Free Library has received its largest single donation ever – over $660,000 -- from the family trust of a deceased Marin couple. The Marin County Board of Supervisors formally accepted the trust bequest during its Oct. 25 meeting.

The donors are Jan and John E. Zimmer, who lived in the unincorporated Almonte neighborhood near Mill Valley. The Zimmers left 80 percent of their estate, valued at more than $3 million, to be split equally among the Corte Madera Library, the Mill Valley Library and the Larkspur Library.

The Mill Valley and Larkspur libraries are operated by those cities, independent of the Marin County Free Library.

“We’re overwhelmed by this generosity and deeply grateful that the Zimmers recognized the value of libraries to our communities,” Jones said. “We will ensure that that the Corte Madera branch will continue to provide a welcoming environment to engage in life-long learning and literacy.”

Director Sara Jones was notified of the gift on Sept. 18 and shared the news with the Marin County Library Commission on Oct. 12. She said the gift is “perfect timing” because the Marin County Library Foundation recently has been reinvigorated to address the many needs of aging county library facilities. The Corte Madera branch, now more than 41 years old, is at the top of the list for improving or replacing, she said.

John Zimmer, a U.S. Army and National Guard veteran who worked most of his career with the City of San Francisco Housing Authority, died in 2015. His wife Jan, a successful commercial artist, died in 2011. Family members and friends described them as being big fans of libraries; a cousin in Ohio said John learned how to use a computer at the library while in his 70s and found inspirations for the couple’s world travels.

Although this is the largest donation ever received by the county library, other donors have also been generous.

The library accepted a $345,912 donation from the trust of Corte Madera Library patron Armand Cello in 2004. Those funds are still being used to purchase materials for the public, including high-demand items that are circulated as the Cello Collection, as the donor requested.

In 2006, the trust of Fairfax Library patron Lucille S. Buchanan donated $123,477 toward materials that were in great demand and Fairfax branch upgrades. Those are the only other six-figure gifts documented in the Marin County Free Library's archives.